Asylum
by bri wesmoreland
Summary: Set after the Romulan war. Starfleet's star officers go missing and encounter a planet riddled with hidden secrets. But is it just a strange planet or an intergalactic prison colony, insane asylum, or something else? What's really going on? Jon, Trip, Malcolm and Travis are about to find out. Will their wives ever see them again or be able to handle the men they have become.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello Again,**_

 _ **It's been a long time since I posted a new story, so please review and read. This is not necessarily a sequel to the series entitled "In the Name of Love and War", but a continuation of sorts. Meaning, there will be references to things that occurred in each of those stories that will have an impact here. However, I have tried to write this one with as much information from the back stories as possible. It would be helpful if you read those stories but hopefully it won't be necessary to understand everything that's going on here; that's is unless you really want to! The story starts with four short introductory chapters, then they will get longer, I promise. Thanks again for taking a look. I so appreciate it and I hope you enjoy!**_

 _ ** _ **Shout out and a big thanks to my wonderful Beta reader LoyaulteMeLie! She took time out of her busy, busy schedule to help me out and I am very grateful. You really are the best!**_**_

 _ **Bri**_

* * *

 **Chapter One: Caged**

"Let me out of here!" he yelled. "I said let me out of here, goddammit! Open this fuckin' door! I'm gonna break it down if somebody doesn't open this damned door in the next few minutes, I swear it!"

"Hey!" There was no response, and his frustration mounted. "Hey! Somebody! Anybody! I need to talk to somebody!" He continued to bang loudly on the door and to try and find something that would open it, but nothing worked.

The door that was standing between him and his freedom was like a fortress. But why was he locked in? Was this a prison? What had he done and what would happen to him next? Surely someone was going to talk to him!

There was a small window inserted just eye level in the center of the door. He positioned himself to try and see if he could see anything. There seemed to be a few others passing by in white pajamas, guided by what looked like nurses or medics. He looked down at himself; he was wearing the same white pajamas. Was this some kind of hospital?

The pajama-clad, angry individual looked around the room and couldn't find anything to throw against the window or the door. The only thing in the room besides the bed was a table and the chair beside it.

He tried to move the table but it was bolted to the floor, and the chair was too. "What kind of a fool place bolts the furniture to the floor!" he yelled out loud, feeling himself getting angrier and angrier.

Someone had locked him away and he was determined to know why. He had a right to know and he knew he had to make it to the other side of that blasted door, even if he didn't know what was behind it; even if he didn't know what he had done to warrant being locked up; even if he didn't know where he was or where he was going…even if he didn't know _who_ he was!

After he tried yelling, cursing and loudly banging on the door again, he hurried back to the chair and tried to tear it free from its fasteners, but it wouldn't budge, which only made him angrier. So, he continued his wild rant, fast pacing around the room, back and forward, banging on the door and the window, screaming and using words that couldn't be found in any respectable database.

"Fuck this!" he yelled. "And fuck all of you!" he screamed into the small window through which he could still see people passing by.

"Hey! Hey!" he screamed at a man in a blue uniform. "You hear me, you idiot motherfucker? I know you hear me!"

"I'm gonna break someone's goddamned neck when I get out of here, you shit-eating bastards!"

"Hey! Listen to me! _Open this fuckin' door!"_

He then returned to the chair, which was bolted to the floor with some type of mechanism; he couldn't figure out how it worked. So, he just grabbed the chair by its metal leg and began to pull. As he pulled, he could feel his anger rising more and more. His face felt hot and sweat poured down the sides of it. Nevertheless, he kept pulling at the chair and, much to his surprise, it finally budged. Actually, it broke. When one of the metal chair legs snapped loose from the floor, he was confused.

' _I must be really strong,'_ he thought to himself, wondering how he could have gotten that way. Was he born like that or had something happened to him? Maybe this was the reason he was locked up. But no matter, he had a weapon. Soon he was able to tear the chair completely free. He took it and threw it against the door but it only bounced off. He dodged getting hit by it on the rebound, then took it and began banging it against the walls, making a lot of additional noise as he yelled.

Then he took the leg of one of the chairs and bent it until it broke off, again marveling at his own strength. He took the jagged edge of the chair leg and began striking the window with it.

Suddenly, several people wearing blue uniforms came running. Apparently, they'd worked out wherever the noise was coming from. A tall, muscular man put a code in the door and it slid open. The captive immediately jumped forward and started swinging the chair leg at him. The man dodged it and they danced around for a few seconds before two of tall guy's buddies rushed the room and tackled him. It took all three of them to hold him somewhat steady, just long enough for a young woman to press a hypo spray to his neck.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" he screamed as they partly released him and he clapped a hand to his neck. "Where am I? Who are you fuckin' people and why are you tryin' to kill me?"

"We are not trying to kill you," the young woman said. "We are trying to help you." The men then lifted him up and carried him over to the bed, and although he still tried to resist, whatever was in that hypo had caused him to already feel the effects of it as he was too woozy to shake them off. They then fastened restraints to his wrists and ankles.

"Why are you doing this?" he yelled frantically. "What is this place and why am I here? This…this is a _crazy house_ , isn't it!"

"We prefer the term 'Mental Health Retreat'," one of the young men said.

"I don't give a damn what you prefer!" the patient spat. "What am I doing here? I – I wanna talk to somebody in authority! If this is some kinda hospital I wanna talk to a doctor or an administrator or somebody!"

"Certainly," the young woman replied. "I will have to summons your wife first, however. She will want to be consulted."

"My _wife_?" he asked, staring wide-eyed at the young woman.

"What do you remember today?" the woman asked. "I am your personal nurse and care-giver, Drakely. Do you remember me today sir?"

When the patient did not answer, but just stared at her, she went on, "Do you know who you are?"

He closed his eyes for a second. He didn't even know that much. "Just … just get the damned doctor!" he yelled out of frustration.

"Right away, Your Majesty," the woman stated, and then bowed slightly. The men followed suit.

Things were just getting weirder by the minute. " _Your Majesty_!" the restrained man repeated, confused at the use of the title.

"Why yes, of course, Your Grace," Drakely replied.

"Okay, okay, hold on for just a moment," he said, a bit calmer now as the medication was starting to take ahold. But he was even more confused by their sudden respect.

"Who – just who the hell am I…and why are you referring to me as fuckin' royalty?"

"Your Majesty, unfortunately you have been quite ill for some time, requiring your hospitalization off-world due to a unique set of circumstances. Your mind is rather impaired, and your wife had you brought to this fine facility for treatment.

"As to who you are, you are Sir Charles the Third, Prince Consort of Her Majesty Kaitaama, First Monarch of Krios Prime."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:** _ **Assassin**_

He was Number 415976, but inside these walls, on the unit, _"Number Two,"_ was his unofficial rank, and he was in a fight for his life. His opponent was almost twice his size, mean and nasty. His nick-name was KJ which stood for Kill-joy, for he loved killing others for the sheer joy of the act. But Number Two had no intention of being his latest victim.

KJ picked Two up, lifted him up and threw him across the room as the others in the room yelled and screamed, egging the fight on. Two skidded across a row of folding tables and chairs before he landed with a thud against the back wall. He shook his head, scrambled up onto all fours, and then propelled himself to his feet.

He was bleeding at the nose and mouth and had a cut on his forehead, but he forged headfirst toward his opponent. KJ laughed a little and gestured for the smaller man to 'come on', as he waited with the leg of a table to use like a baseball bat against the fool's head. But as the feisty Two came charging his opponent, he did something unexpected. He dropped to the floor and slid just past the bigger man who had just then swung the table leg as hard as he could. Had it connected with Two's head as intended it would have surely knocked the man out cold or worse.

KJ lost his balance as he was coming out of his wild swing and as he did so Two kicked him viciously in the groin. The bigger man bent to clasp himself, grimacing from the pain. Two took advantage of the moment and kicked his legs from under him so that the big thug went flying head first onto the floor. Before he could gather himself, the smaller man had taken a hold of the weapon that KJ dropped on his way down, and just as he raised his head he was met with a massive swinging blow to the face.

Several of KJ's teeth went flying out of his mouth, along with a fair amount of blood. Then his injured head hit the floor again – he was out like a light. All of the men around them started chanting, "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

In his heart of hearts, Two really didn't want to kill the defeated enemy. But he had to. If he hadn't he would have been seen as a weakling, a target for everyone there. KJ was a bully and a killer and if Two was going to be top-dog and live up to the moniker that had been so graciously bestowed upon him, he knew he had to do what was expected of him.

The victor moved around to the back of his victim and knelt down to straddle him. Then he grabbed the unconscious man by the back of the hair and placed his forearm around his neck. In just one quick, smooth move, he did it. KJ's big neck snapped easily and this time when his head dropped to the floor, there would be no getting up.

The onlookers laughed and cheered the new champion. Number Two had been in many a fight since he had been there, and had defeated each of his opponents, rising to his former status in the area. The only one he had not been able to defeat in two previous tries had been KJ. Fortunately, some of the others had prevented KJ from killing Two, though he didn't know why since the man had slaughtered several others since he'd had been there; perhaps even here, courage was respected, or perhaps they just saw a future contender when KJ was not at his best. But today, he was victorious and he was now _Number One._

The champion stepped over the dead man, put his hands on his hips and surveyed the room, as if to say _"anyone else?"_ The others started to back away slowly, not taking the challenge. Moments later, one of the staffers threw the new number one his rations for the day, an unidentified meat sandwich and some type of fruit, plus KJ's portion.

The hungry winner retreated to the far corner of the room. He was hurt but he couldn't let anyone see that. He grimaced as he sat on the floor, trying not to groan in pain. He just hoped he didn't have any internal injuries. His face was mixed with blood, sweat and grime, his dark hair growing wildly (now almost over his ears); that and his tattered garment caused him to look as bad as he felt.

However, he wasn't going to let his pain stop him from devouring the mystery meat. A whole sandwich was a rare thing in this hell hole, let alone two whole sandwiches and two pieces of fruit. This was practically a feast, so he devoured the food rations as quickly as if it were his last meal. As he ate, one of the others crawled up next to him and tried to snatch a piece of his sandwich. Instinctively Number One slapped his hand and the man whimpered and retreated, curling up a few feet away from him. He was ill, and weak, and his food was almost always stolen from him. He probably wouldn't live much longer.

As One ate quickly, the emaciated man continued to whimper and stare at him. He finally took pity on the poor bastard and broke off a piece of the sandwich and threw it at him. Still another tried to intercept the offering, but One snarled at him like a mad wolf and the interloper scurried away to safety.

After eating, one of the guards brought One something. Being Number One afforded one certain privileges. His reward was the use of a PADD for one hour a day, under supervision of course. After consuming his delectable meal, One slowly moved across the room to his new corner. He pulled KJ's things (which didn't amount to much) off the concrete bunk and threw them across the room; some of the other fellows fought wildly for them. When it was clear, One carefully crawled up onto his new space, which wasn't too bad, considering the bunk actually had a thin mattress. Then he opened the PADD. Fortunately, he remembered that whatever he had been in his former life, he could read and write.

'Number One at last,' he typed. 'It's been a long time coming. I'm not exactly sure how long it's been as I've no idea how long I've been here. But I know that I've faced that idiot Kill-joy twice and got my arse kicked. But today, my victory was sweet indeed.

'Perhaps now, as I record my thoughts, I can reclaim some of my humanity. Perhaps even my memory as I've no idea who I really am. Here we're classified in one of four ways: Assassin, Slaver, War-Lord, or DM (dead man, for those awaiting execution for various reasons). I'm 'Assassin' – seemingly that's why I'm in this god-forsaken place. Apparently, I was a killer for hire in my former life, though I've no memory of it. Nonetheless, _something_ caused me to be sentenced to this hell hole, along with quite a few other undesirables from throughout the universe. However, I do seem to possess a certain skill set which has come in handy and kept me alive since I've been here. For that I _am_ grateful.

'Many are like me – with no clue who they really are or what they've done to deserve such glorious accommodations. Either their brains were fried upon being sentenced here, or they were already barking mad. I can't be sure of what my status was/is, but one thing's for certain: my brain is quite fried or scrambled with a side of animal instinct. I am however, determined to sort it out.

'On the bright side, if there is one, I continue to have dreams – quite nice ones actually, of another existence, another time and space. Dreams of a life on a beautiful starship. And get this! I am an officer in a fleet in these dreams – _me_! I even have friends, a tall fellow with sandy hair and a dark chap with an infectious grin.' Number One laughed out loud a little at that. The thought of the dreams was comforting in one way, though it made life grim when he had one and woke to reality.

'To top it off,' he continued, 'I have a beautiful lover…or is it a wife? With long dark hair and an amazing figure! What's more amazing is that she's smart as hell with a unique skill set of her own. She's extremely important to the ship, to the whole damned organization actually! And she's mine, all mine. Did I mention that she's always amazing in bed? So much so I often wake up in a sweat, wet, and even satisfied to some degree. Now if you're going to dream, I'd say bloody hell, that's the way to do it!'

He looked at the PADD. On it he'd written the name he was occasionally called in his dreams; it probably wasn't his own, but it was something to call himself. The tall bloke called him by it, anyway, though maybe it was some kind of joke.

'Mal'.

"Time's up, _Assassin_!" growled the guard assigned to watch him.

"It's hasn't been an hour yet, you blithering idiot!" he spat. "I get a whole sixty minutes, or can't you tell time, you half-wit?"

"I said, time's up!" the man shouted, and snatched the PADD.

One leaped up and faced him, forgetting about his aching insides. The guard stared him down as others looked on. The temptation was there to have a go, defending his lost minutes, but he had just gained certain privileges and had become Number One, so he didn't want to mess that up by fighting with, perhaps killing one of the guards. They had reinforcements. He had none.

The guard grinned. "That's what I thought," he said. "Entertain yourself by counting the cracks in the ceiling or go fuck yourself for what I care!" With that he walked off, taking the PADD.

Number One stared at the man's back and could see himself running him down and snapping his neck similarly the way he had done to KJ. How had he become such a savage? He slid back onto his bunk and started to cough, spitting up a little blood, which he concealed carefully; there was always someone watching for even the smallest sign of injury, of weakness. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and lay down, closing his eyes. If he did have internal injuries, he knew he could die. But since no one gave a flying fuck, he said nothing. Perhaps a nap was in order and perhaps he would have one of those lovely starship dreams. What the hell else did he have to do in the belly of the beast – this wonderful, glorious institution…for the criminally insane.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three: Savior**_

Dr. Jefferson Adams, Ph.D. and his wife Regina worked as a team at Cynergy, the Center for Mental Retreat and Healing on the planet Rostacia, deep in the Gamma Quadrant, somewhere near an area of space formerly known as 'The Expanse'.

The facility was massive, covering over twelve thousand acres of the only populated area of the small planet's single continent. There was a small village of fewer than three thousand people in this area, for obvious reasons known as the flatlands. The rest of Rostacia's land-mass consisted of mountain ranges, and here and there the caves inside them were inhabited, but by far the largest number of its inhabitants lived around here.

The facility had been built for one purpose, to house the insane of the surrounding quadrant. It had four areas, one of which was a retreat center with all the trappings of an upscale tropical paradise. Those who could afford it sent their loved ones there for rest and treatment.

The second unit, somewhat less luxurious, housed those with minor mental health impairments, but who nonetheless required treatment. Many housed there were voluntary committals. The third unit (correspondingly Spartan) housed the patients who suffered from major mental impairments, many of whom could not be cured and would likely never leave the facility.

The fourth unit was by far the worse and the most dangerous for it housed the dregs of society – the deranged criminals who had been sentenced there for various, heinous crimes committed throughout the quadrant. They had escaped execution either because their governing tribunal or world had outlawed the death penalty or because they had been adjudged unfit to stand trial on the grounds of their insanity. So, they were dumped on Rostacia because they would be housed at Cynergy and allegedly treated – if not actually with medicine (by this time they were thought incurable), but at least with decency.

Dr. Adams was a tall man with steely green eyes and a commanding presence. When he walked the hallways, others took note and usually moved out of his way. He was the Chief Executive Officer and his wife was the Chief Operating Officer, so they ran the joint, so to speak. There was of course a governing board that they had to answer to and occasionally suck up to for funding.

Dr. Adams hated that.

This morning the chief was in a huff. Nothing seemed to be working well or right. Everything was below standard in his view. But it was _his_ view.

"Why are these patients roaming the hallway unescorted or attended?" he bellowed at the unit nurse.

"Chief," she began, "we are out of rooms and understaffed. We have no placement for these patients. We told admission that. But they assigned them here anyway."

"Look," he replied quite firmly. "I want these patients situated and I want it done now! We're not running an animal clinic! Just get it done!"

"But where, Dr. Jeffery?" the bewildered nurse asked. "Where _do_ we place them, there's no…"

"Set up some cots in the doctors' lounge!" Adams snapped. "When that's full, start using the doctors' private quarters, I really don't give a damn where!"

"The – the doctors' quarters, sir?"

"Did I stutter, Nurse?"

The young woman stepped backwards nervously at her superior's aggressive stance and attitude,

"Okay." Regina stepped in, carefully placing her hand on her husband's arm. She faced him. "It's okay," she assured him. Then she turned to the frightened nurse.

"Nurse Quinn, there's a conference room on this floor. Have Maintenance remove the table and chairs and let's get that space set up for some of these patients. Next, have them move cots into the library. I think those spaces will work nicely."

"Yes ma'am," she replied, and hurriedly walked away.

"What was that?" Dr. Adams asked with a frown. "You usurping my authority again?"

"Nonsense my dear," she replied. "Just offering some alternatives."

He frowned as they continued their walk-through. Suddenly a young woman came running up to Dr. Adams and grabbed him forcibly. She had long, brown hair and blue eyes which seemed reasonably clear, (not as glazed over as most of the other patients), yet she had a look of sheer desperation on her face.

"Admiral!" she cried out. "You're alive, you're okay!"

"What?" he frowned. "Who are you?"

"That's quite enough," Regina said, attempting to pull the woman off of her husband. "Get your hands off of him! Orderly! Orderly!"

With that, two men and another nurse came running. "What is she doing on this unit?" Regina demanded. "How did she get out?"

"I apologize Dr. Adams," the nurse said as the men grabbed a hold of the woman. "We've been searching for her all morning. We should have known she'd come looking for Dr. Jeffery."

"You know she's obsessed with him," Regina snapped. "She's tried to kill him twice! Take her away and get her in restraints immediately!"

"Wait a minute!" the CEO said. "Who is this? How does she know me?"

"You know who I am!" she cried out as she struggled against the orderlies. "Remember! Remember me! Remember who _you_ are! Don't believe them, they're all lying to you! You are not Jefferson Adams! Your name is Jonathan Archer! _Admiral_ Jonathan Archer!"

"Get her out of here!" Regina shouted.

"What is she talking about?" Jefferson demanded of his wife, taking her by the shoulders as he watched the imprisoned woman dragged away down the ward, still shouting. "Regina, what the hell is that woman talking about?"

"Jeffery, my love," she started with a look of sadness on her face. "She's delusional, sick, and … unfortunately…so, so are you."

"What! What the hell does that mean?"

"Sweetheart, you contracted a virus from one of the patients who was brought here six months ago. It caused you to go insane and lose your memory. But listen to me! _Listen_ to me," she said taking his face in her hand. "You are Dr, Jefferson Adams, Chief Executive Officer of this facility. You are responsible for making major changes in this institution that have been life changing for the patients here as well as the staff. Before you came here a year ago this place was a disgrace, little more than a mid-evil insane asylum. But YOUR leadership changed all that! You are a celebrity on this planet and you have great influence on the government. A lot of people depend on you, Jeffery, and you _have_ to get better! Do you hear me? You have to and you _will_ get better! The hospital needs you! _I_ need you!" she finished firmly.

Dr. Adams looked at the woman standing before him, not knowing how to respond. His brain was in a whirl.

"I thought you were ready – to return to work, that is," she finally said. "This is my fault. You need more time, that's all."

"Regina," Jefferson started. "Something isn't right. I've told you that."

"Yes honey, you've told me that over and over again. Something isn't right, and it's not. Your head isn't right, baby. You need more treatment."

"I don't need any goddamned treatment!" He shouted the words as others glanced over, but dared not to stare too long. He looked around, then closed his eyes, his face red and anguished. "That woman called me Jonathan Archer! That's the same name I hear in my head … that people have called me in my dreams!"

"Oh Jeffery, no, not the voices and the dreams! Not again, please!"

"Listen to me! I – I don't belong here! I – I'm not some…some _savior_ …that everybody depends on! I can't help these people! I don't even know who _I_ am!"

All of a sudden two men grabbed him from behind as Regina quickly injected him with a hypo she grabbed from the pocket of her coat.

He struggled against the men for a few moments, still yelling that he didn't belong there, before the drug took action and he passed out.

"Where shall we put him, Ma'am?" one of the orderlies asked. "Your private suite?"

"No, he's…not well." She lowered her head for a second and wiped the corner of one of her eyes. She then looked up, smoothed her hair and said in an unsteady voice, "Take him to the treatment room."

"Yes Ma'am, right away," the young man replied. And they lifted him and carried him away.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four: Lost**_

He didn't know where he was or how long he had been there. He didn't know why he felt the way he did, he just knew he felt terrible. His head hurt violently and he had trouble keeping his eyes open for very long. It seemed like he was hearing voices in his head too. But the voices were muffled or seemed very far away.

The dark-skinned young man sat up slowly and tried to remain in a sitting position, though he was so weak it was an effort. After a few seconds he tried opening his eyes again. When he was finally able to focus, he was totally confused. Where the hell was he?

He tried to think. What was the last thing he remembered? What had happened to him?

"I was…on a ship…I think…think I was maybe even _flying_ it." he said softly to himself. "I think. So that makes me some kind of pilot or something, B–but, how long…ago was that? And where am I?"

It appeared he was in a cave.

He rose slowly to his feet but was very unsteady on them, so he leaned up against the wall for a few moments. Then tried to stand upright. Successfully mastering standing, he decided to try walking. That was more of a challenge. He staggered a few feet, holding his head in his hands, and then his legs gave way and he fell to the ground.

Luckily, he didn't seem to break anything, though the floor of the cave was solid rock and he landed heavily on it.

"What the…! I can't even walk!" So he sat for a few minutes, trying to gather his strength, and then tried again. This time he was able to stay upright longer.

" _Okay,"_ he said to himself. _"Gotta figure out a few things. First, why can't I remember my name? Second, where am I and why am I here…in a cave. And who does this stuff belong to?"_

With that, he surveyed the items lying about. Someone had made a fire and he wondered if it was him. But there was a massive sledge hammer, some huge eating utensils and the biggest bed roll he'd ever seen. There was also a large bag – with draw strings. It seemed to be almost tall as he was.

He decided to take a peek inside. From what he could see without disturbing anything, it contained women's clothing of all things. Apparently a really big woman. He saw the hilt of what seemed to be a large dagger among the clothes; he took it out and was studying it when suddenly, he could hear something or someone making their way toward him inside of the cave.

He wanted to run, but was still fighting a massive headache, dizziness and lack of coordination. But from the sounds, whatever was approaching him was doing so fast and might not be friendly. He decided to make a run for it anyway.

Staggering and stumbling, he lurched towards what looked like it might be a passageway. He was so unsteady on his feet that he banged intermittently, and the pain in his head was so great he clutched at it. The steps grew closer, and he could feel his anxiety and fear rising as he realized he wouldn't be able to get away. Then suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind.

"Little man," a thunderous voice said as she held him by the scruff of his clothing. "Just where do you think you're going?"

Then he was turned around. He was in the grip of a huge woman, probably almost half as tall again as himself. She must weigh six hundred pounds at least!

He stared up at the humongous woman holding him like a rag doll and choked back a shout of terror. Then almost without thinking, he stuck her in the arm with the dagger he was holding. She screamed and let him fall to the ground.

She held on to her bleeding arm in anguish. But he'd already made his way to the entrance of the cave by the time she collected herself – luckily that was where the passageway ran that he'd been heading for when she'd caught him. The giant voice screamed after him to come back, but there was no way he was turning back. He ran into the forest, head throbbing, not having a clue where he was going, but he kept on just going.

Night was falling. After hiding for a while between the roots of a large tree and hearing nothing, he figured he had lost his pursuit, so he came out. Not knowing where he was or even who he was or where help might be found, he decided to walk in the direction where the forest seemed to thin out a little.

It was raining and cold, and he was starving, but after he came over a ridge and spotted smoke over the tree tops, he thought he might have found a town. After stumbling around in the dark in what he hoped was the right direction, sure enough, he made it to the gate of what looked more like a small village. He wondered if it was pre-warp because from the looks of it, it didn't seem that technologically advanced. The smoke he'd seen came from the chimneys of small cottages, each of which had animals resembling lambs and goats locked behind wooden fences. However, one of the houses was bigger than the others here, and seemed to be a bar with lights and lively music, so he decided to venture in.

Some of the people turned and looked as he made his entrance. Nervously he went right up to the bartender, who looked him over oddly.

He had a small boxy machine clipped inside one of his pockets, and something made him drop a hand to make sure it was switched on. Luckily, it was.

"I – I need help," he started. "Can you tell me where I am?"

"This is my place, _The Watering Hole_. What'll you be having?" the middle-aged gentleman with a long beard asked.

"No, I mean..." and he coughed a little. "What, planet is this? What's the name of this town and what day is it?"

The man leaned over on the bar as several others stopped what they were doing and inched over a little closer.

"What planet do you think it is?" he asked. "The town is Chapel Village and it's the 7th of Delenial, 2259."

"Chapel Vill… _where?_ " Travis started, then swayed, putting his hand to his forehead.

"You alright lad?" one of the men asked. "You don't seem too steady on your feet."

"And you're a mite roughed up," another added.

"Yeah," the bartender chimed in. "Where you hailing from?"

He looked at the men all staring at him. Then he looked around as quite a few others, both men and women, stared at him. "I don't exactly know," he finally said quietly.

"You don't know?" one of the men repeated, then they all glanced at one another.

"Look, I woke up in a cave…with a giant woman. I stabbed her and ran. I followed the smoke trails here. I need to call someone…I just, I can't remember who."

"Woke up with a giant woman, did you now? Yeah, sure you did lad," the bartender said mockingly.

"Maybe if I drink enough of this lousy ale and got clocked over the head, I might just wake up with one them big babes too!" one of the men with a toothy grin laughed. They all joined in.

"You know what I think? I think he's one of _them_ ," another of the men stated. "Talking loose in the head and looking beat down. You're from _there_ , ain't you?" he asked the stranger, getting close up on him. "Escaped, did you?"

"Escaped from _where_?" the bewildered man asked, sensing he was in trouble. "I have no idea where _there_ is!"

"From the pris… oh, uh, I mean the uh… _hospital_ ," a woman said, joining the group. "I work there, and I think I seen you on one the units. One where they hold the worst insane aliens, or, or maybe on the death row unit. One where the patients can't be cured, can't be helped and their kind don't want 'em back! Nobody wants 'em and they can't keep housing and feedin' 'em, so they execute 'em!" the woman said, tapping her fingers together with a strange look in her eyes. "Boys, it's a patient escaped from the asylum! We need to get him back before he hurts himself – or one of us!"

"Yeah! There's probably a reward for his return!" another man shouted. "Always is!"

"Look!" He said starting to back away with his hands raised in front of him, his anxiety level rising. "I don't know what you're talking about! So, I'm, I'm just gonna go!" Then he turned quickly and tried to make a run for it.

"Grab him!" one of the men shouted, and with that they pounced on him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five** _ **: Missing**_

 **Three Weeks Earlier**

 **T'Pol's House. Vulcan.**

She had been trying all day to concentrate on several different things, but she was distracted. Actually, she was irritated as hell. In Vulcan terms, of course. Trip had been gone now for seventy-two point five hours and he had not even called to say how the journey was going and now she was unable to reach him mind-to-mind as he was too far out in deep space.

They were traveling on the Corp of Admiral's small transport vessel, the _Pioneer_ , capable of housing about twenty-five, but on this occasion, the crew consisted of nine members; three engineers, three weapons officers and three security personnel, in addition to Admiral Archer, Malcolm, Trip and Travis.

It was so unlike Trip to not check in. Alright, they had had words – no, a disagreement was more accurate. And, yes, they had been under considerable strain for the last few months, but this hadn't been the first time. They had gone through a lot over the years and had always been able to work through their issues no matter what they were. Why would this time be any different?

Trip hadn't even wanted to go to this conference as he never wanted to be apart from her for long stretches, so this was really unusual for him. Perhaps it was a testament to how bad things really were. But Jon had really wanted Trip to accompany him to the conference on Coridian. It was a really important occasion, and Archer was making a big speech, so he had wanted support from his best captains and his friends. Therefore, Trip agreed to go, stating that he would use the time to give T'Pol some space and take some time to think on his own account. Since he would be away for almost three weeks, T'Pol had decided to go to Vulcan and spend her 'alone' time there.

If it was unusual for Trip to suggest a period of respite, it was even more unusual for him not to check in. He did that occasionally though when he was mad about something and he wasn't really mad now; disappointed perhaps…no, he was mad. Still, though.

T'Pol had tried to work in the garden, to look over the material sent from Soval's office. She was working for him part-time job in the Ambassador's office but couldn't concentrate. She knew it would take five days to travel from Earth to Coridian in their small craft, but it was warp seven capable so the time it would have taken at warp five was accelerated significantly. Of course, they wouldn't spend the entire time at warp seven but it still would take almost half the time it took a few years ago. The point was, she hadn't heard from him and that bothered her.

As she was lost in her thoughts, she was startled by the comm system. She hurried over to activate the view screen ready to rip into the man but was surprised by another face.

"Hello T'Pol," Hoshi said.

T'Pol was inwardly disappointed but her facial expression of course didn't change. "It is good to see you Hoshi," she replied. "I trust things are well."

"I guess," Hoshi said in turn. "I mean, I'm well. How are you doing? Are you feeling any better?"

"I am considerably better, thanks to Dr. Phlox," T'Pol replied. "But I do not believe you called me to discuss my distress."

"I just want you to know how sorry I am," Hoshi said. "We all are, and very concerned about you."

"I appreciate your concern, but I assure you, I am quite well. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to Trip going away. Now, there is another reason for this call, correct?"

"Well, yes," Hoshi admitted. "I haven't heard from Malcolm since the first day they left for the conference and Liz hasn't heard from Travis. When you spoke to Trip, did he say anything?".

T'Pol raised her eyebrow at that. "Actually, I have not heard from Trip either," she admitted, her anxiety level rising inwardly.

"Oh no!" Hoshi reacted, putting her hand to her mouth. "Something's got to be wrong!"

"This is quite unusual," the Vulcan agreed. "Why don't you call headquarters to determine if they have checked in with anyone there? I will call Commodore Hernandez."

"Okay," Hoshi agreed anxiously. "I'll let you know what I find out. Call you back later."

=/\=

T'Pol had gotten Hernandez on the line after waiting a few minutes.

"Hey T'Pol," Erika said. "Feeling better today?"

"I am," T'Pol replied. "The treatment I received from Phlox has been quite effective."

"Oh, that's good. I hope you're resting and not overdoing it."

"I am working on a part time basis for Ambassador Soval's office. Works helps to keep me focused."

"If you say so," Erika replied, clearly hoping her friend was being straight with her. So, what's up?"

"Something rather unsettling," the former Science Officer said. "Admiral Archer, Trip and Malcolm left for the Coridian conference three days ago. Commander Mayweather was piloting the Admiral's ship. Oddly, neither myself, Hoshi nor Lt. Cutler have received any communication from the men since they left."

"What?" Hernandez said. "That's odd. I know how protective Trip is. I'd have thought you'd have heard from him several times a day."

"Ordinarily, that would be the case. I am beginning to wonder if something has gone wrong. Have you heard from Admiral Archer?"

Erika hesitated a moment. "Well, no, but T'Pol, it's not like I was expecting to. Jon and I are…okay now, but we don't talk like that."

"But he would contact you on a professional basis, would he not? You are the Commodore under his command."

Erika shook her head. "He'd send a message to my Assistant and relay it through him. Jon doesn't talk to me unless he really has to."

"That is unfortunate," T'Pol replied.

"Tell you what, let me check with Jon's assistant. See if she has heard from him."

"That would be agreeable."

"Let you know," Erika said and signed off.

=/\=

By the end of the day, Erika, T'Pol, Hoshi and Liz had been on a conference call. No one had heard from the men and they were all really worried by now. The next day T'Pol left Vulcan, enroute to United Earth to Starfleet headquarters. And on the fifth day, when the men should have arrived at the conference, they were nowhere to be found.

=/\=

 _ **Somewhere on a Remote Planet**_

Malcolm and Trip started to stir almost at the same time. Malcolm slowly opened his eyes and instinctively shot up into a sitting position. He grabbed his head as the swift movement caused an instant wave of dizziness. He tried to focus, looking around wondering what the hell had happened. It seems like only a few minutes ago he was sitting next to Travis at the controls of the small craft they were using to transport Admiral Archer to a conference on Coridian. Trip was seated just across from Archer and they were chatting away about how big a deal it was. Then, something happened.

"Yeah, I was just wonderin' the same thing," Trip said groggily, with his hand to his forehead as well.

Malcolm looked around to see his friend trying to get up. Travis and Archer were sprawled out in the back of the shuttle, quite unconscious.

"I didn't say anything," _Pioneer_ 's captain retorted.

"Yes, you did," Trip frowned. "You said ' _what in bloody hell happened',_ then _'where the hell are we?'"_

Malcolm was starting to get up as well when Trip staggered over to help him. "I never said that," he replied, straightening his left leg with an effort; it was as stiff as hell. How long had it been resting at that awkward angle? "Maybe I was thinking it…but I don't recall actually _saying_ it."

"Yeah whatever," Trip said with a scowl. "Then let me say it… _what in bloody hell happened and where the hell are we?_ " His attempt at a British accent wasn't a huge success.

Malcolm stood up straight and looked at his friend. "Don't ever, _ever_ do that again!" he warned.

"Yeah, whatever," the former engineer replied again.

" _Ever,"_ Malcolm repeated, pointing a finger, and then the Brit stumbled over to check the other two men.

"They okay?" Trip asked warily.

"Seem to be," Malcolm answered. "I can only think they have been gassed, _or something_. Apparently, we all were."

Trip thought for a second. "Think I do remember all of a sudden having trouble breathing and coughing."

Suddenly Travis started to stir. Moments later the younger man was sitting up. "What happened?" he asked as he immediately tried to stand.

"Careful, Commander," Malcolm said as he helped the former helmsman to his feet.

"What…what happened?" Travis repeated. "And where are we?"

"We were just trying to figure that out," Trip replied. He'd moved over to Admiral Archer to see if he could be revived, but almost as soon as he spoke, Jon's eyes flew open and he quickly rolled over and shot up to a sitting position. But before he could jump to his feet, and possibly fall again, Malcolm and Trip were at his side to steady him.

"What happened?" he asked groggily, just as Travis had done. "What's going on?"

"We don't know sir," Malcolm responded. "We just woke up a few seconds before you did, I'm afraid. But we appear to be prisoners."

"Woke up!" Jon shouted, rubbing the back of his head and neck. "What the hell were we doing asleep in the first place?"

"Somethin' or someone knocked us out somehow," Trip answered.

"Who? For what reason!" Jon bellowed.

"We don't know anything, sir," Malcolm said. "We're just as confused as you are."

"We were on the _Pioneer_ seems like just a few minutes ago," Travis added. "On our way to the conference. Then…then, something started coming out of the vents!"

"Right," Malcolm interjected, as memory began seeping back. "And I remember jumping from my seat to try to stop it… whatever it was, it wasn't good news!"

"Me too!" Trip added. "But before I could make it to the systems panels in the back, boom! That's all I can remember. Must have gone out like a light!"

"Well, it's pretty obvious we're not on our ship anymore," Jon retorted. "And where's the rest of the crew?" Jon said with a frown, referring to the nine Starfleet crewmen assigned to the ship.

"We can only guess, sir," Trip replied. "Hopefully they're okay."

"This looks like a dungeon," Travis said as he moved around the room, touching the walls.

"Don't," Malcolm warned the younger man. "We don't know what this place is, or what it might be rigged with. So try not to touch anything you don't have to, it could be dangerous."

"Your call," Trip said to Malcolm. "What next?"

"Excuse me!" Archer said indignantly. "I believe I'm still the ranking officer here and I still give the orders."

Trip and Malcolm looked at one another. "Oh, uh, I apologize sir," Trip said. "Wasn't trying to usurp your authority or anything, I was just thinking that since Captain Reed here is the security expert among us, that maybe he should be the one to give us some insight and maybe a few instructions. For our safety of course."

Jon hesitated for a moment, looking around. "Alright…proceed, Mr. Reed."

Malcolm immediately sprang into action. With the lightest, wariest touches, he started to check the walls for secret doors or concealed passageways, devices, anything. "Seems to be one way in and one way out," he finally reported gesturing at the one obvious tightly-sealed doorway. He then turned his attention to the concrete floor and checked under two metal bunks hanging on one of the walls. They had little cushioning and a few dusty coverings, which Malcom snatched off and searched.

"Anything?" Trip asked.

"Nothing so far," Malcolm replied. "Check those two," he said to Trip gesturing at the other two bunks on the opposite wall.

Trip immediately checked under the bunks, pulled the thin cushions off the bunks, running his hands around each side of them and under them. Then he checked the blankets thoroughly. "Nothing here," he said out loud. Almost as he spoke, a loud voice came over an intercom that they could not see.

"Good, you are all awake," the voice said.

"Who are you?" Jon asked looking around. "Why have you brought us here? I am Rear Admiral Jonath…" 

"We know who you are," the voice said. "Welcome Admiral, Captain Tucker, Captain Reed and Commander Mayweather."

"I asked you a question!" Jon replied angrily. "Where are we and why have you brought us here?"

"That will be revealed to you in time," the voice replied. "In the meantime, I suggest you do as you're told, cooperate and do not try to escape. It will make your time here much more pleasant."

"I have no intention of cooperating with any son-of-a-bitch too much of a coward to show his face!" Trip shouted. "So why don't you bring your ass on in here and let's get acquainted!"

"Trip!" Jon said, hushing him. "Listen, whoever you are! I want to talk to someone face to face! I'm sure we can work this out. Perhaps it's just a misunderstanding." But, Jon's attempt at diplomacy was met with silence.

"Okay," the frustrated man continued after a few minutes. "We're Federation and Starfleet officers and I demand to know where this is and why my officers and I have been kidnapped and are being held against our will!"

"You are in a position to demand nothing, Admiral," the voice said. "And if you do not intend to cooperate, then I would surmise that there is no point in continuing this discussion. Your first lesson in obedience will now begin." With that a loud sound filled the room, like that of a scanner but infinitely more invasive. The men put their hands to their ears and began to scream, falling to the floor as pain that felt like electrical shocks cascaded through their bodies.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six** _ **: Abduction**_

 **Vulcan Embassy, Earth.**

It took T'Pol two full days to travel from Vulcan back to Earth. By now it had been determined that the four Starfleet officers never made it to the Intergalactic Conference on Coridian. Admiral Gardner had authorized a full scaled investigation into their disappearance and SI was on the job. But that did not satisfy T'Pol, Hoshi or Liz. They wanted some answers and they wanted them sooner rather than later.

T'Pol had asked Erika to join them in her suite at the Vulcan Embassy. The Vulcan was doing her best to maintain her composure, but she could feel her control slipping by the minute.

"We can't just leave this in SI's hands," Hoshi said. "I'm sorry but I don't have that much confidence in them."

"There are some very competent investigators at SI," Erika tried to reassure the women. "I say we give them a chance to do their jobs."

"I agree," T'Pol replied.

"What!" Liz interjected. "You agree? You mean you're gonna leave Captain Tucker's life in the hands of those incompetent boobs?"

"I did not say that," T'Pol stated. "I was merely agreeing that there are some very competent investigators at SI. I am quite familiar with several of them."

"T'Pol, when I was kidnapped, Malcolm and Trip risked everything to find me," Hoshi began, referring to the time she'd been abducted some two years ago by a Romulan operative that Malcolm had been assigned to bring down. She had been a vicious and formidable foe. "And I know they would do the same for any one of us."

"What are you suggesting Lieutenant?" Erika asked.

"She's suggesting we do something other than sitting on our asses, holding our hands and watching the clock… _Ma'am_!" Liz blurted out. "No disrespect intended."

"And just what did you have in mind?" Erika asked, challengingly.

"Commodore," Hoshi chimed in, "I'm going to do anything I can to find my husband, to make sure he's safe. To bring him home."

"How do you plan to accomplish that?" T'Pol asked, raising one eyebrow.

"I don't know," the linguist replied. "But I'm gonna do something. I just can't sit around here waiting to hear something. This is driving me crazy!"

"I say we charter a ship and get out there and start looking!" Liz said. "That's what the men did when you went missing, Hoshi. Why should we do anything different?"

"As I stated earlier," T'Pol started, "SI has competent investigators and it would be reasonable to allow them to do their job- _ordinarily_. However, this is not an ordinary situation. Marauders, pirates, and other enemies of Starfleet would relish the opportunity to get one of its officers in their grasps. Four would prove extremely beneficial, especially these particular officers. While I am certain Starfleet will use all of its resources to determine what has happened to the men, we know they will not negotiate with terrorists or slavers if it comes to that. Therefore, I believe it may be prudent to consider lending assistance in this case."

"T'Pol are you crazy?" Erika asked. "Starfleet would never authorize it. Liz and Hoshi are on active status right now and you… you're still recovering from a miscarriage."

"That was more than three months ago, and I assure you I am quite well."

"I'm sure you are, physically. What about mentally?"

T'Pol's facial expression changed only in the slightest, and Hoshi was likely the only one who saw it, but there was a slight grimace. They all knew that she and Trip had been devastated about losing the baby so close to delivery. And Hoshi knew that their relationship had been a bit strained as a result. Trip wanted to try again, T'Pol didn't. She wouldn't even discuss adoption, there were too many complications and factors to consider. It all seemed an impossible situation to T'Pol and the stress of it had caused her to be ill.

"As I stated," T'Pol said calmly, "I am better, and we may well be the best option for bringing the men home safely."

"T'Pol, Starfleet will never…." Erika began.

"You must understand, I have no intention of asking for Starfleet's permission to attempt to search for and/or rescue my husband if necessary," the Vulcan said flatly. "Actually, the more we discuss it, the more I am certain that I must to do everything in my power bring him home."

"Count me in!" Liz stated.

"Me too," Hoshi added.

"I can't listen to this," Erika said rising. "I understand what you ladies must be going through. But I have a job to do. A lot of people are under my command and are counting on me. I can't be a part of some unauthorized search and rescue."

"Commodore," T'Pol said, rising, "I would never undermine your authority. I respect you too much for that. And since I resigned my commission with Starfleet, the Vulcan fleet has offered me an opportunity to re-join them, however, I may not return to active duty status for some time. Therefore, I am not under your command and not bound by Starfleet orders, nor any other governing authority at this time. I do not have to obtain anyone's permission to do anything."

"Maybe not T'Pol, but _they_ are under someone's authority and _they_ do have to get permission," she said looking at Liz and Hoshi. "Please don't do anything foolish, ladies."

Hoshi rose up and looked squarely at her commanding officer. "I'm prepared to resign my commission, Commodore," she said.

"Same here," Liz said, standing beside her friend. "Sorry, but gotta do what I gotta do."

Erika looked at the two younger women, then at T'Pol. She thought about how she and T'Pol had teamed up to come to the aid of Trip and Jon when they were in trouble on Krios Prime a few years ago. That event had forged their friendship. She was torn as part of her wanted to jump right in and join the other women in this rescue effort. While the other part of her was pulled by duty and command. She mumbled something under her breath as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She tried to put on a face devoid of expression but probably wasn't as successful at hiding her feelings as she thought. Finally, she held up a hand, shook her head then turned to exit the room. T'Pol followed after her.

"Commodore, wait," she said as Erika was making her way down the corridor to the elevator. Hernandez stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. There was a troubled look on her face.

"I know that you and the Admiral are not together and have not been for some time. However, I am aware that you still have feelings for him."

"I'll always have feelings for him," Erika replied with a small frown then adjusting her eyes slightly downward, not willing to meet T'Pol's eyes directly. She seemed almost ashamed of what she had just confessed. "That doesn't change anything though, so do what you have to but leave me out of it."

"We need your help," the Vulcan said. "Lieutenant Reed and Lieutenant Cutler have never endeavored to do anything of this nature. It will be extremely difficult and dangerous and I need a seasoned professional like you for your expertise and support."

"T'Pol!" Erika said in an elevated voice. "You can't ask me to put my career on the line for Jonathan Archer!" She had turned red, her eyes bulged out and she looked as if she was about to come unglued for a few seconds. It seems in just a few moments she had been reminded of how she and Jon had been in love, how she had thought they had a future together, but then he'd abruptly broken things off with her. But, of course there were extenuating circumstances that had contributed to the break up- the war with the Romulans that had gone on for a couple of years, Jon's stress and how badly he handled things when under pressure, the son he'd had with the alien woman, Rajiin, and her disappearance with the child.

Then, she visibly calmed herself, sighed deeply, then continued. "A couple of years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated. I would have done anything for him, you know that. But he threw all that away; showed me exactly what he thought of my love for him. So, no, I won't stick my neck out for him."

"Then authorize leave for Lieutenants Reed and Cutler. Do not force them to end their careers – you know they won't back down."

"T'Pol, I can't believe you're asking me to do this."

"But I _am_ asking…as a friend."

Erika looked at the Vulcan and put her hand to her forehead for a few seconds. She hated being put in such a position. It seemed she was always sacrificing something for a man who clearly did not appreciate it. But, how could she refuse her friend and the other two young officers a chance to bring home the men they loved. Even if it meant putting themselves at risk. "Okay, okay!" Erika finally said, "I'll … I'll see what I can do."

"I am indebted to you," T'Pol replied. "And if you decide that you are in need of some leave time yourself … _Excalibur_ could use your experience and competence. Jonathan may not be deserving of your assistance for many reasons. But I would venture to say that you need to do this, that it will tear you apart if something happens to him. Perhaps it is the only way you can finally purge your feelings for him. Or perhaps you need to do it … because no matter what he has done, you still love him and as you said, you always will."

Then T'Pol left Erika standing alone in the corridor with her thoughts.

=/\=

Travis woke up on top of a metal table. He'd been stripped down to his Starfleet blues and his head felt like it was going to explode. He tried struggling against the restraints holding him down, but to no avail.

Then two medics came into the room. 

"I don't care what you do to me, I won't talk!" Travis shouted at them. "I won't tell you anything so you may as well go ahead and kill me!"

"Bold statements!" a voice answered from just beyond the foot of the table as they approached it.

Travis looked at this newcomer, a Vulcan. He thought he looked familiar but couldn't place him.

"You may long for death sooner than you know," the Vulcan said, and then he snapped his fingers at the medics.

"Proceed," he said. Then walked away.

"What are you doing?" the helmsman shouted frantically as the female medic came close to him and opened a small container. The male reached in with a tweezer-like instrument and pulled out a black, slimy creature, about two inches long and about the size of a pencil. They placed it on the prisoner's face as he pulled against the restraints.

"No!" he cried out. _"No!"_ But he creature crawled into his left ear and started to burrow, and the young man's screams finally gave way to the darkness invading his mind.

=/\=

In another room, Jon struggled against the restraints and called out over and over again – to no one, it seemed, until finally someone appeared.

"I demand to know what's going on!" he shouted. "Torture me if you will, you'll get nothing out of me!"

"I assure you, there is no information we seek from you," the male medic replied as he walked up and lifted Jon's Starfleet undershirt.

The female then opened a container and set its open end against his belly. Several black creatures, of a type that Jon had only seen on a medical screen once, crawled out onto his flinching skin. He struggled against the restraints all the more, knowing what was about to happen.

"No!" he yelled. "No! Don't do this! You do not have to do this!" But the creatures had already started to enter his body through his navel cavity. He screamed as he felt them making their way inside of him to find a place to nest.

=/\=

When the medics opened the door, they did not see their subject lying on the metal table, but the torn leather restraints at the head and foot of it.

"This is impossible," the male said to his colleague, holding one of the broken restraints in his hand. "Apollo fastened these restraints himself. No one could escape them."

"Where could he be?" the female asked worriedly. "This will mean our heads for sure!"

"You just said a mouthful baby!" Trip had been hiding behind a tall metal cabinet, and now came up behind the female and quickly subdued her with a chopping blow to the side of the neck. She dropped the container she was carrying and fell to the floor. Seeing she was out of it, Trip ran for the male, who was attempting to make his escape. "Where you think you're goin', asshole?" He dived for the man, who practically put up no fight. Trip punched him in the face and he fell unconscious.

He didn't bother checking to see what was in the container but checked the two medics for weapons and found none. He had already checked the room to see if he could find something to use to assist in his escape but had come up empty.

He did grab a set of what looked like hospital pajamas and quickly pulled them on as it was freezing in the room. Then he slid up against the door, peeked out and checked, hoping to make a clean getaway. Next, he would look for his friends.

What he saw as he entered the corridor and rounded the first corner, made him stop in his tracks.

"You not escape!" the big man dressed in what looked like battle fatigues bellowed.

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Trip shouted. "What the fuck!" He turned to run, but the big man was surprisingly fast; he grabbed him and started to squeeze as Trip pushed vainly at the massive hands around his body.

"Zeus!" a voice shouted. "No kill!" The ogre hesitated a moment, then tossed Trip like a rag doll to the floor. Apollo, a second creature much the same, had come up and glared down at the escaped prisoner.

"Put back," the big man said.

And taking Trip by the scruff of his pajamas, Zeus dragged him back into the torture room. The medics had already come to and were getting up from the floor when the monster entered the room with their patient.

"Zeus!" the female said, holding her neck and gasping. "Put him on the table and hold him down!"

The other medic staggered over to Trip where he was squirming as Zeus held his arms down onto the table and Apollo held his legs.

The medic tore the blue undershirt Trip was wearing and released several of the creatures, which started to crawl all over his upper torso and face.

"I'll kill you for putting those goddamned bastards in me!" he shouted, as he was all too familiar with them. "I'll fucking kill you all!"

=/\=

Malcolm lay on top of the med table pretending to be asleep. Although, depending on what level of technology his captors possessed, it might be an exercise in futility. But whatever torture was in store for him, Malcolm knew one thing: he would take as many of them out as he could, before he was too hurt or weak to do anything.

When the medics approached the table, checking the restraints, he kicked the female right in the face, propelling her to the floor with a scream, for he had had just enough time to work one hand free from the faulty latch, which he saw as a bit of luck. He'd worked on the other hand but was unable to get it loose but found that his right leg came free as he yanked very hard against the leather strap. Apparently, he had been placed on the table with the old, worn out equipment. That was a major mistake, for he was the certainly the _last_ person they wanted getting free.

Malcolm was still strapped down to one side of the table but with his free hand quickly reached for the male medic and pulled him up onto the table with him, wrapped his free leg around him, and began choking the man with his free forearm.

"Release me and you get to live!" Malcolm spat out. "You have two seconds to decide, mate."

He released his choking grip just enough for his victim to speak. "I-I… can't…brea…the."

"That's the idea you bloody fool! Now, how do I get off this table?"

With that, the medic reached his flailing hand over onto the side of the med table and pressed a button. The restraints popped open and Malcolm jumped from the table pulling the man with him. He was just about to render him unconscious when two familiar faces entered the room.

Reed was sick with disappointment for a moment but held fast to his victim. "I'll snap his neck if you don't let me out of here!" he shouted.

"Do it, then," the eight-foot-tall, seven-hundred-pound monstrosity opposite him said. "We like kill." Then he raced over to where Malcolm held the medic. He swung a massive sledge hammer propelling them both into the wall.

Malcolm had just time to jerk the medic's body up to take the brunt of the bone-shattering blow, but it couldn't stop all its force. Before the darkness dragged him under, his last thought was that surely this must be what it felt like to die.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven** _ **: Dangerous**_

"T'Pol, are you sure about this?" Hoshi asked. "I know you keep saying you're fine, but you don't look all that fine. I mean, you look a little thin and a bit tired. Tell you what, why don't you stay here and let us handle it?"

"I appreciate your offer, Hoshi," T'Pol started, "but while you have several valuable skills, I do not see this mission succeeding with you and Ms. Cutler going it alone."

"We won't be alone, we've got the entire crew of this ship to help us out."

"You're not properly trained to lead a rescue effort," T'Pol replied. "I on the other hand, am not only trained, but I have participated in several, most recently, yours."

"For which I'm eternally grateful. But listen, I don't think Trip would be too happy about you putting yourself in harm's way when you're not at your best, even to rescue him."

"You are more than likely correct," the Vulcan conceded. "I have been better and Trip may not be entirely happy about me leading a rescue mission. But if I wait until I am at my most efficient, it may be too late, and since Trip is not here, he cannot attempt to persuade me to stay behind. Besides, I've taken precautions to guard my health as much as much as I possibly can."

Just then Phlox appeared on the launch pad. "It's so good to see you Hoshi, it's been far too long!" he beamed.

"I saw you last week," Hoshi said.

"Yes, but that was too long ago," the Denobulan grinned. Then he turned to T'Pol. "I will be expecting to see you once a day as we agreed."

"Of course," she replied, bowing her head slightly.

"Okay, let's do this!" Liz said as she joined the others on the launch pad with her duffel. "Do I get to use this on this little venture?" She asked as she held up a phase pistol.

"What are you doing with that weapon?" T'Pol's voice was chilly.

"It's not Starfleet issue," Liz said, a little defiantly. "It's my own personal piece and I'm licensed to carry."

"As a medical officer you would have only minimal certification."

"Really?" Liz pointed the gun at a stack of barrels. She proceeded to strike each one, burning smiley faces on them before T'Pol snatched the weapon from her hand.

"Point well taken," she said. "But again, I would cite your training. Never fire a weapon in unauthorized and populated areas and never without security protocols in place. I am certain Lieutenant Reed would have reminded you of that in your first lesson aboard Enterprise."

"And who's concerned about what's authorized and what's not?" Liz snapped. "Especially since _none_ of this shit is authorized!"

T'Pol only gave Liz a look. "Ms. Cutler, you will not be a part of the security or detail on the ground for this assignment, you will split your time at helm and in sick bay."

Liz was furious. "How many damn doctors do you need on this ship? Don't you already have enough – that Vulcan chick and now Phlox!" Liz said referring to the Chief Engineer's wife.

"V'Lynn will not be accompanying us this time," T'Pol stated, "Isn't that right doctor?"

"Yes, V'Lynn will be under the care of my assistant while I am away," Phlox grinned. "She's no longer, uh, a spring chicken, so to speak, and this is her first child."

"Oh, wow! I didn't know," Hoshi said, with a huge smile of her own. "Good for V'Lynn and good for Kov!"

"Yeah well, great, good for her and good for you." Liz waved her hand in Hoshi's direction. "Everybody's pregnant but me!"

With that they all turned and looked at Hoshi.

"I'm not pregnant," she snapped. "Pay the crazy woman no attention, she's delusional! Let's just go."

They were all picking up their gear ready to board the ship, when yet another passenger joined them.

"Hey wait up," Erika said as she hurried to catch up.

T'Pol turned to face her. "But you said…"

"I know what I said," Hernandez replied. "What can I say at this point, I'm an idiot. Anyway, let's just go before I change my mind."

=/\=

Moments later the team was on the bridge of _Excalibur_ , the small warp seven vessel Trip owned. "Greetings, crew," T'Pol said to the crew mates she and Trip had served with highly specialized (and often unauthorized) missions, under Malcolm's leadership.

"Commander T'Pol, good to see ya," Wesley said. "How the hell are ya?"

"Yeah, been missing you," Jackson said with a grin. "But, I'm really glad you're here." Jackson and Wesley Smith were weapons experts for hire but had become regular crew members of _Excalibur_ after the _"Capella Prime"_ mission. Capella Prime was the planet where Hoshi had been held when she was kidnapped by the Romulan operative.

"I am well," T'Pol replied. "I trust that you and the crew have also been well."

"Yes," Kov said. "It is good to see you Commander."

"Is the ship ready for take-off?" the CO asked the chief engineer.

"We are warp capable and all systems are on line," Kov answered.

"That is acceptable," she replied. "Now listen. As you know there has been a kidnapping. Captains Tucker and Reed, Commander Mayweather and Admiral Archer have been missing now for over a week. We are not certain who has taken them, but we will rendezvous with an operative at the last point of contact with their ship. From there, I am not certain. We will have to figure it out as we go. Of course, this will be very dangerous, and we are all putting our lives on the line. So, if anyone is having second thoughts about participating, now would be the time to make your choice."

"Oh, hell no! We're in!" Wesley gestured at his brother.

"Danger is what we do," Liz said. Everyone turned and looked at her. "Well…it is!"

"She's right, in a sense," Hoshi smiled. "From the first mission, right up until this moment, we've faced danger a hundred times."

"And lived to tell about it," Erika added.

"Let's hope our good fortune holds," Phlox grinned.

And with that, they prepared to launch.

=/\=

The Compound.

It had taken Malcolm all day to fully regain consciousness. The others had been very concerned about him as they waited. Now he sat on one of the concrete bunks, back in the dungeon with his colleagues, discussing their plight.

"So, you don't remember being infected?" Trip asked. "Didn't so much as see one of those slimy bastards?"

"No," Malcolm replied. "Like I said, I was able to free my right side from the med table and grab the medic. He'd released the other restraints and I was just about to render him unconscious when I was confronted by a bloody blast from the past."

"Yeah, so was I. 'Cept I had the pleasure of meetin' up with both of Frankenstein's monsters. Zeus and Apollo, they called 'em."

"It would stand to reason then," Malcolm murmured thoughtfully. "We're back on Capella Prime."

"Capella Prime being the planet where Hoshi was held captive after she was kidnapped," Jon said.

"One an' the same," Trip replied. "It's where we first encountered those big-assed ogres. We fought and killed two of them."

"Yes, Samson and Goliath," Malcolm reminded him. "Remember _that_ bit of fun, Trip?"

"How could I forget it? One of the best times I've ever had in my life. Right up there with being impregnated with a Xyrillian fetus." His tone was loaded with irony.

"That good, huh?" Jon said sarcastically. "So how does being infected with those parasites fit in? That fun-filled act occurred the first time on Krios Prime, right Trip? Remember, the First Monarch had become obsessed with you, wanted to control you, make you her slave."

"Don't remind me," Trip said with a shudder. The parasites Kaitaama had had him infected with had done a number on him.

"We have to consider every possibility," Malcolm interjected.

Trip had been watching Travis who was just sitting quietly, listening. It was unusual for the lively helmsman not to have anything to contribute to a conversation. "You okay?" he finally asked the younger man.

Travis looked up from the floor where he was sitting with both arms resting on his knees in front of him. "I'll live, apparently," he replied. "It was just a disturbing and…painful experience, that's all."

Jon rested a hand consolingly on his head for a moment. "It was at that, Travis. Hopefully, this headache will be the worst of it for a while."

"It took several weeks for the bastards to start really messing with me before," Trip snarled, recalling his most unpleasant experience with the parasite infection three years ago. "It started with the headaches and they just got worse and worse over time. Then came the anger and aggression, the paranoia and craziness!"

"Who the hell would do this?" Travis asked, his anxiety level rising. " _Why_ would they do this?"

"Well, it's like the Admiral said, Kaitaama did it before because she wanted to control me and make me her slave," Trip growled. "She also wanted to get Starfleet secrets out of me to give to her Romulan friends."

"I'm still trying to work out the common denominator between Kaitaama and Capella Prime," Malcolm admitted, shifting on the bunk and putting his hand to his head as though checking for shaved areas. Then he rose up and started to rub and flex his muscles, testing his physique methodically.

"Maybe you should take it easy Malcolm," Jon said.

"I'm…fine. A bit stiff and sore, but I really don't feel like I've had major surgery less than twelve hours ago."

"Maybe you didn't," Travis said. "Maybe they're lying to you. Maybe you weren't hurt as badly as you thought after all."

"I _was_ hurt," Malcolm replied. "The Incredible Hulk made sure of that. He hit me with that sledge hammer and I crashed into the wall full force. I thought I was surely done for."

"I guess they fixed you up real good then," Trip said. "Their medical technology must be far superior to ours."

"Whoever _"they"_ are," Travis muttered.

"My money is on Kaitaama." Trip was still scowling. "Now she's found reason to screw _all_ of us up with her little pets."

"But I'm telling you, I don't recall being infected," Malcolm reiterated.

"That doesn't mean you weren't," Jon interjected. "The rest of us were graciously endowed with those disgusting…slugs. Why should you be any different?"

"Other than a nasty headache, I really don't feel any different."

"You're infected, all right," Trip said, and they all looked at him.

"What's makes you so sure?" Malcolm asked, frowning.

"I can feel 'em," the former engineer said at last, reluctantly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I can sense 'em, feel 'em. I think they're in contact with one another. Think they're talkin' to each other."

"Trip, are you saying you can actually _hear_ or somehow _sense_ the creatures in all of us?" Jon asked with mounting alarm.

Trip looked at his colleagues, confused. "Can't you?" he asked.

"Of course not." Malcolm was now watching him closely.

"Are you in contact with these creatures?" Jon asked, rising. It took little imagination to suspect that his next thought would be 'and are you in control of them'.

"No, I'm not!" Trip answered indignantly. "But like I said, I can sense 'em, feel 'em. I don't know, maybe I _can_ hear 'em communicatin' with one another."

"How is that possible?" Jon asked.

"Beats the hell out of me…sir," Trip said. "I just can, I think. I mean, I know they're there, in all of you."

"Maybe this has something to do with him being infected before," Travis said.

"That would make sense," Malcolm admitted, though his gaze at his old friend was still darkly searching.

"That could be it," Jon agreed.

Then they all sat down, continuing to stare at Trip.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight** _ **: Revelations**_

It had been over a week since the Starfleet officers had gone missing and since that time they had been infected with dangerous, mind-controlling parasites. They had been left in the prison that held them with just a few rations provided each day. And as they waited to meet their captors or to be tortured further, the parasites began to take a hold, making it harder and harder to think and behave rationally. Then on this particular morning, they were led away one at time and placed in separate bedrooms, alone.

Trip waited in a bedroom to where he had been dragged by his old friend Apollo. He was then forced to dress in a pair of white linen slacks and a matching shirt. He felt like an ice cream cone. Then he was told to drink the so-called wine next to the bed in an effort to help him relax. When he refused, Apollo promptly took hold of him, forced him to open his mouth, and poured it down his throat.

Trip fought with everything in him to maintain his composure and keep his wits about him, but he was losing out to the constant headache brought on by the parasites and now worsened by the wine. He'd spent the last hour or so looking for a way out of the room but hadn't found one yet. He was just about to give up and crash on top of the bed, hoping sleep might help if he could get some, when _she_ came in.

"Surprised to see me?" Kaitaama asked, with a cryptic little smile on her face.

"Not really," Trip replied. "So, what is it this time Kaitaama? The war is over – or is it? Something tells me this has something to do with the Romulans again."

"I couldn't care less about those ridiculous Romulan fools!" she said with a dismissive flick of her hand. "I wanted to see you."

"Uh huh," Trip said. "Haven't we been down this road before, seen this movie before; in fact we starred in it last time didn't we?"

The First Monarch laughed out loud. "Oh Trip, your sense of humor has returned. How wonderful!"

"Yeah well, those damned parasites you're so fond of almost robbed me of that, among other things."

"But the doctor tells me that you were the recipient of some rather sophisticated alien gene therapy and it restored your brain function completely. You have no traces of brain damage and you seem to be as you were when I first met you. Fiery and fabulous!"

"No thanks to you!" Trip snapped. "Tell me sweetheart, if you were so heartbroken over what your little friends did to my brain last time, why bring me here against my will, _again_ , and infect me with them _again?_ "

"Trip, sweetie, I'm not stupid you know. I learned from my past mistakes. It's true, when I found out how dangerous those things were and what they'd done to you, I was devastated, really! That's why I'm glad you got rid of that bastard Kennar for me. I never did get to thank you for that."

"That wasn't really me, that was Malcolm. He's the one who actually took your loving husband out."

"But it was you who fought with him, to the bitter end! It was so exciting!"

"Excitin'! Woman are you just bat-shit crazy?" Trip unfolded his arms and stared at her.

Kaitaama pouted. "No, contrary to popular belief."

"Your uncle said you'd suffered from mental illness since the time you were a little girl."

"Lies!" she spat, the prettiness falling from her face and leaving it ugly. "All lies!"

"Does he know you're here? Doin' all this?" Trip asked. "How is it that you're here and not sitting your royal hiney on your royal throne, _Your Majesty_?"

"You let me worry about my uncle and the throne of Krios Prime. I've got that covered," she replied.

"You've stopped taking your meds again, haven't you?" He decided to switch tack, and made his voice sound pleading. "Kaitaama, this is a dangerous game you're playin'. You're sick and you need help. Let me help you."

But the deranged woman threw her head back and laughed again. "That sense of humor! I love it!" Then she prowled up close to him. "Trip, darling…I love you. I always have and I always will. I will never stop until you're mine. Don't you get that? Nothing is going to stop me from having you. Not you, Starfleet, my uncle, or the throne of Krios Prime."

"Yet you've put those slimy worms in my head again!" he roared in despair. "You know they'll just make me hate you! An' even if they didn't, you think I'd ever love you for what you're doin'?"

She reached up and ran the back of her hand along his cheek; he grabbed it and brushed away her touch as though it had soiled him. But she only laughed again, completely unoffended. "If you must know, my dear Captain Tucker, the parasites you have running around up there now are a new strand. They were altered, you see, by a wonderful new doctor we found. These little babies won't mess you up, make you crazy or damage your brain. But in a few more days, they _will_ make you obedient once again – and they'll do a proper job of it this time!"

Trip grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her closer to him. "So, you want to control me! To make me your slave! I still won't love you Kaitaama! Don't _you_ get that?"

She pushed away from him and stepped back a pace. "That's where you're wrong, my _sweet_ ," she sneered. "After the creatures are fully mature, you will not only obey me, you will wish to fulfill my deepest desires. You won't have a choice. Because to obey me is to love me. It is my only desire in life; to love you and have you love me back. It will work this time. It has to."

With that, a fresh wave of pulsing pain rolled over him. Trip grabbed his head and stumbled backwards. He fell onto the bed and for a moment was so dizzy he couldn't focus. Kaitaama strolled over and crawled on top of him.

"You see," she said, "it's already starting to work. In my mind, I willed you to lie on the bed and well, here you are. Now…take your clothes off and fuck me!"

=/\=

"You're supposed to be dead!" Travis shouted at the young woman in front of him. "I was told…they told me you died! They _all_ told me!"

"They lied," Gannett replied, standing in front of her former fiancé.

"I read the reports, Gannett," he moaned. "You were fatally shot on Krios Prime three years ago!"

"I'm telling you Travis, it was a lie!"

"I mourned for you…I – I _cried_ for you…Why would everyone lie?"

"To keep us apart!" she said earnestly, coming over and putting her arms around his neck. He quickly removed them and stepped back. He couldn't believe her; he _wouldn't_ believe her. But the pain in his head was making it so hard to think, and almost impossible to concentrate.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled. "I don't believe you. Why should I believe you, Gannett? It's not like you haven't lied to me before!"

"I want us to start over," she said, walking up on him again. "It can work this time, I know it. We belong together!"

"'We belong together'?" he said incredulously, then started to laugh. "I loved you. At least I thought I did. But your first priority was, has been and always will be, _your damned job_!"

"Not anymore." Gannet ran her fingers coaxingly up his sleeve, trying to convince the ex-boomer.

"I don't want anything to do with you! I moved on during your absence. No, I mean after you _died_!"

"Oh stop being so dramatic, Travis! You knew I was a spy when you got involved with me again. And sometimes spies have to do things they don't want to do!"

"Like fake their own death!"

"Yes, like fake their own death! You knew I was SI, you knew that I'd done some terrible things in the name of Starfleet. You said it didn't matter…"

"Yeah, I said that. But you're forgetting a critical piece of that statement aren't you? I said it didn't matter _as long as you were honest with me from that point on_. I didn't have to know the details of your top-secret assignments, but I wasn't gonna be made a fool of again. I didn't even have to know where you were or what you were working on…just that you were okay! As long as you kept that part of the bargain, I was alright with it!"

"No, you weren't! You never were!"

"But I made the adjustment, didn't I? I kept my mouth shut, never blew your cover, to anyone. Not even after your supposed death!"

"Just further proof that you still love me." Her smile was still beautiful, still enchanting.

He pushed her away. "I _said_ , I moved on!"

"I know all about Liz Cutler!" A sneer had replaced the smile. "Doesn't matter. You're here with me now and this is where you're going to stay."

"It's not going to work. You can force me to stay here, infect me with leeches…"

"They're not leeches."

"Who the hell cares, Gannett! You're trying to force me to do something against my will and it will never happen!"

She smiled a little at that, and looked at the floor. "The parasites weren't my idea," she said. "I didn't even want to do it to you. But they told me it was necessary. Now I see they were right."

" _They_? Who the hell are _they?_ "

But the young woman just turned and headed for the door. The sight of an armed guard outside told him there was no point in trying to make a bid to escape, even if he'd felt physically capable of it.

She turned and faced him before she left. "You'll find out soon enough. But in about another forty-eight hours or so it won't make any difference, nothing will make any difference. You'll be mine, forever. And you'll like it!"

"Gannett, wait!" he called after her desperately. "Why are you _doing_ this?" But she slipped through the door without replying, leaving him alone in the bedroom where he had been forced to wait.

He slammed his fist against the wall when he was completely alone, and then went over and flopped onto the bed. His head was already killing him, and now his hand was too. He still couldn't believe Gannet was alive…or was she? Maybe this was an imposter. He tried to think it through, to figure some things out, but the pain in his head was almost unbearable. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. Then he drifted off into a fitful and painful deep sleep.

=/\=

Rajiin poured a drink for Jon, who sat staring at her. He hadn't seen or heard from her in two years, yet here she was in the flesh. She hadn't changed a bit. She was still as young looking as she had been when he'd first met her, years ago, and still just as beautiful.

"Here," she said, handing him the drink. "It's a lot like Coridian wine. It will soothe you."

"No, thank you." He made no effort to hide the edge in his voice. "I don't want it."

"C'mon Jon. I'm trying to be nice. Take the drink, you're going to need it."

"Why?" he replied. "What else do you and your friend Kaitaama have in store for me?"

"None of this was my idea," Rajiin stated flatly.

Jon frowned as he rose, placed his hands on his hips and laughed a little. "Cut the crap, Rajiin! Stop playing the innocent victim; we both know you're no victim!"

"I'm not trying to do anything to you Jon, and trust me when I tell you I didn't want to hurt you."

"Then why the hell did you let them infect me with those goddamned parasites?"

"Like I said, that wasn't my idea! I knew what those things were capable of, you think I'd let them make you crazy? I care about you Jon! I love you, I didn't want to see you hurt, really, I didn't!" Tears trembled on the edge of her lashes, and he tried not to see them, or care.

"Oh for heaven's sakes lady! You know what those parasites did to Trip! You know what he went through for months as a result of those things messing with his brain! He almost lost his mind, and he suffered serious brain damage after they were destroyed!"

"I know, I know. Look, I just wanted to see you. That's why I showed up at Hoshi's wedding. I just wanted to see you, I swear it! I tried to stay away, but I couldn't." Her voice wobbled pitifully. "So, when I was told that there was a way to bring you here, to see you alone, to talk to you again, I thought maybe…maybe things could be like they were before, when we were so close. I was desperate…so I went along with it."

"Where is he?" Jon demanded, striding over and grabbing her arm. "Where's my son? You took him away without a word and I almost went crazy looking for him! Now you show up here and talk about being desperate! Well honey, I was desperate too. But I didn't resort to kidnapping and assault! Now, you tell me where my son is!"

She jerked away and left the room without a word, leaving him standing there swaying as his headache became worse and worse. He staggered over to the bed and sat down hard, placing his head in his hands.

A few minutes later, Rajiin returned with a small child about two years old.

"Johnny, I want you to meet someone," she said as she held the little boy. "This is the man I told you about. He's your daddy."

Then she put him down on the floor as Jon stared at the child, not daring to believe.

At first there was hesitancy. The child looked at Jon doubtfully.

"It's okay sweetheart," Rajiin said. The she rubbed her hand against the child's face. "Go say hello to your daddy."

The child ran over to where Jon was sitting on the bed. "Daddy!" he said and started to climb up on the startled man.

It was no longer possible to doubt. Jon lifted him up and stared at him hungrily for a moment, and then he pulled him close and kissed him several times.

"Hey!" he said. "Yeah, it's me. I'm daddy! I'm your daddy!" Then he pulled the child close to him and held him against his cheek as his eyes stung with tears. "I love you," he said. "And I don't ever want to lose you again."

Rajiin came over and sat down on the bed next to Jon. The little boy, a handsome kid with brown hair and green eyes, reached for his mother. " _Nack_ ," he said. "Nack, mommy!"

Jon laughed a little as he continued to touch the child, rubbing his hair, holding his hand, kissing him.

"Okay," Rajiin said. "You've been a good boy, so mommy will get you a snack."

"Yay!" the child said throwing both hands up in the air. "Daddy come too!"

Jon closed his eyes and smiled at that, still not believing this moment was really happening.

"Daddy can't come right now," the child's mother said as she rose. "Maybe next time."

"Oh no! Don't," Jon said, pleadingly. "Please don't take him away. Stay a little while longer, please!"

"I let you see him, but I have to go now," she replied.

It was unbearable. He rose abruptly, grabbing her arm. "I said don't take him away!"

"I have to put him down for a nap…"

"I've waited two years to see him! I'm not going to let you take him away from me again!"

"Let go of me Jon! You're hurting me!" Rajiin snapped.

"Don't do this Rajiin! Don't do this to me again, I mean it!" Then he grabbed his head as pain shot through it, almost blinding him. He fell to the floor in agony.

She kneeled down beside him but she wasn't holding Johnny anymore; he couldn't see where the child had gone. She rubbed her hands against his temples, and his pain immediately started to fade.

After a few moments, she helped him into a sitting position on the floor.

He looked around. The child was nowhere to be found. "He was never…never here…was he?" Jon gasped.

"No," she admitted, her face expressionless.

"Just another one of your…little tricks! That was…cruel, even for you!"

"It wasn't meant to be cruel," she replied. "It was just a glimpse, of how things _could_ be. Think about it," she said. "The wine will help ease the pain and help you relax. I suggest you drink it." Then she rose up and left the room.

=/\=

Malcolm had been pacing the floor like a caged animal. He was never one to be cooped up, and right now he felt like he was going to jump out of his skin. He had been allowed to take a shower, finally, and provided a plain brown jump suit to dress in. But that had been an hour ago and nothing had happened since. He had tried to find a way to escape, but the room was like a fortress. Then finally, he heard voices at the door.

He hurried to the door as soundlessly as he could, standing to one side of it. He would be ready for whomever came through it. This might be his only chance and he wasn't going to blow it. As soon as the door slid open, he pounced.

His prisoner was a woman, but that didn't save her from being quickly grabbed from behind and having his right forearm close around her neck. She wrestled and squirmed and finally managed to get enough movement to bite into his arm, drawing blood – he swore, but hung on grimly. Then with her elbow, she jabbed him hard in the mid-section.

Winded, he was forced to release her for a moment and she grabbed him by the hair, pulled him forward and brought her right knee up into his belly several times. She was just about to strike him in the head when he broke her hold on him and rammed his head into her chest, and they both went crashing to the floor.

She quickly wrapped her legs around his neck from the back and started to squeeze. Trying desperately to claw her legs away, he almost passed out as he had a massive headache before the fight started and was already short of breath from the blows in his solar plexus. But he found the strength and will to kick off against the nearby wall and hurl himself backwards, causing her to strike her head against the table-leg. She rolled on the floor for a moment but quickly lurched upright again as he scrambled to his feet. She screamed and attacked him again, but he got in a punch to the face first and she went flying across the table.

She got to her feet, panting, her mouth bleeding a little. "That's all you got!" she screamed. "You're punching like a bitch!"

"I fight a bitch, I fight like a bitch! Let me out of here if you don't want more of the same, you bloody, evil witch!"

"C'mon, you can do better than that!" she snarled. "The cook's ten-year-old daughter insults me better than that!"

Then she tore at him again, and this time she got in several hits to the face. Half-stunned, he went sprawling backwards. By this time the headache was almost blinding him, and his injuries didn't help, but he put it aside and propelled himself back to his feet quickly. Time for a change of tactics. This time when she ran at him, he threw a series of blows at her and a spinning kick.

She wasn't expecting that. The kick sent her spinning, and she ended up flat on her back in the middle of the room, seemingly unconscious. But just as he was collecting himself and about to make his exit, he was confronted by Zeus.

The big man picked him up by the neck with one of his massive hands and began to choke him. Malcolm struggled and tried everything he could to get free, kicking and clawing, but he was already weak and exhausted and he knew it wasn't going to happen.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he heard a voice.

"Zeus!" she shouted from the floor. "Enough!"

Zeus looked behind him at the red-headed woman slowly getting to her feet. He dropped Malcolm to the floor, and the captain gasped gratefully for air as he held his throat.

Malcolm's old adversary, the dangerous Romulan operative, V'Shele, reached out her hand and helped him to his feet. "I see you still know how to show a girl a good time," she said.

"Likewise," the Brit answered, looking at his nemesis. "You really gave it a go, considering _you're dead!"_

"My dear, dear Captain Reed," she said, reaching her hand out and touching his bleeding face, so that he jerked away. "You ain't seen _nothing_ yet!" Then she headbutted him. He saw it coming and was too slow to react, and it was lights out.

=/\=

Malcolm woke up naked and handcuffed to the bed. If his head hurt before, it was searing with pain now.

His first movement on waking told him about the handcuffs. Fighting down the nauseating pain in his head, he raised his head to look around, and then with a weary sense of inevitability toward the foot of the bed, where his feet were similarly bound.

She stood there clad in a leather get-up (a tiny black skirt and a skimpy bra) holding a whip. She leaped on top of the bed and cracked the weapon several times, striking him across the chest and face, opening up several cuts there.

"That's all…you've…got," Malcolm said mocking her, willing himself not to whimper as the lash dug into his flesh. "You had to chain me to the bed to beat me! Couldn't stand and fight like a man, you bloody, fucking, crazy-arse, dog faced-whore!"

" _That's_ more like it!" she yelled, then tossed the whip aside and dived on top of him. "You fucking, pathetic liar! You know you find me irresistible! And you are as magnificent as you ever were!" With that she grabbed both hands full of his hair and kissed him hard, biting his lip. When she was done, he spat on her, spewing blood on her face. But, she wasn't deterred. She just continued kissing and biting him…all over.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine** _ **: Escape**_

That Night _._

One by one the men were escorted back to the dungeon.

Trip, Jon and Travis all stood up as Zeus tossed Malcolm back into the cell and the door slipped closed behind him. Malcolm fell to the floor. Jon and Trip hurried over and picked him up and helped him to the concrete bunk where he'd been sleeping. The marks of fist and whip were livid on his face and body.

"Damn it Mal, what they do to you?"

"Just a spirited work out," Malcolm said wearily. "She's alive, Trip."

"Who's alive?" Jon asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"The lovely woman who was obsessed with me and tried to kill me more than a few times," the brit replied.

"No!" Trip said incredulously. "Are you sure it was her? Could it have been anyone else?"

"I think I know Comrade V'Shele when I fight with her."

"You mean the Romulan operative, Allison Wells?" Jon said horrified.

"One and the same," Malcolm replied, shifting on the hard bunk in the vain attempt to get comfortable – bruises were coming out on him that he hadn't known he had up till now. "And she was quite well, fit and possessed of incredible stamina, for a dead woman."

"Well then, I guess I'm not the only one who had an encounter with a ghost," Travis spoke up. "Gannett's alive too. But I've kinda got the feeling that you two already knew that."

Malcolm and Trip exchanged glances.

Jon looked at Travis, then at his two officers. Neither of them returned his stare.

"Alright." He held up both hands. "I think we'd better all have a talk. Sit down Travis, Trip." They did as they'd been ordered to, though their glum expressions told him they knew what was coming and none of them were looking forward to having to spill their own particular portion of beans. "Okay, we need to know what happened when we were separated. Down to the smallest details. Anything could be important." He blew out a long sigh. "I'll start."

The other men watched silently as he got up and started pacing around. "I was taken to a room and after waiting a while, Rajiin came in."

"Rajiin!" Trip said. "You gotta be kidding me. We got V'Shele and Gannett, now Rajiin! What did _she_ have to say for herself?"

"She said she brought me here because she wanted to see me again. Said she loved me and if I played my cards right, I'd get to see my son again. Then she went and got him, brought him into the room. I sat there and held him, touched him, kissed his little face. He called me daddy."

The other men had listened intently, and their tense expressions eased as Jon smiled a bit. But they could see the deep sadness on his face. "Then, I got a really bad pain in my head. I got dizzy and I hit the floor. And just like that he was gone."

"She took him away?" Trip asked.

"He was never there in the first place. It was just Rajiin up to her tricks again. She created an illusion to hurt me. Said she wanted to give me a glimpse into what could be."

"I'm sorry to hear that." There was quiet sympathy in his old friend's voice. "That was real cruel."

"What about you, Trip?" Malcolm asked tiredly. "I'm guessing Kaitaama was there waiting for you."

"Yeah, it was her. Off her meds and crazy as ever. But she did tell me that the parasites were a new strand, that they wouldn't cause me brain damage like before. And, she said in a in a few days, when they mature, that I wouldn't ever be able to resist her again, that she'd have complete control over me."

"Gannett told me something similar," Travis interjected. "She said in a few days we were gonna be together whether I wanted to be with her or not, and that I was gonna like it. That there was nothing I could do about it either. She said I was never going to leave here, but I wasn't gonna want to."

Jon then turned to Malcolm. "What about V'Shele? What did she tell you?"

"We didn't do a lot of talking," Malcolm replied. "She was too busy whipping my arse. Literally and metaphorically." Deftly turning the subject away from what else V'Shele had done to him, he continued, "What I _don't_ understand is how she's alive. She died over two years ago, on that godforsaken planet where she was holding Hoshi."

"We just thought she was dead, Mal," Trip replied. "Guess Gannett was right after all. We shouldn't have left her body behind. It's just that when she went over that ledge and fell into that ravine, I just thought there was no way she could have survived the fall."

Malcolm sat up straight, wincing at the punishment for the unwary movement, and stared at Trip. "What do you mean, when she went over that ledge? That's not the way it happened."

Trip frowned at his friend. "Mal are you crazy or something? We all saw it, the whole thing. Me, T'Pol and Gannett!" Travis shot him a look, but he went on undeterred. "You guys were standing on the edge of that cliff. She ran at you, and you kinda just stepped aside and she went over."

Malcolm shook his head; maybe the parasites were affecting him more than he'd thought, or maybe the beating he'd taken had left him dazed and confused. "Trip! I killed her! I had to, she left me no choice. I – I snapped her neck!"

"Look Malcolm, you were pretty out of it when we found you," Trip explained. "You'd survived a pod crash, you'd been freezing your ass off in that cabin with little food for over a week. To top it off, she'd just injected you with that kai-ya venom." Jon and Travis just sat silently through this exchange, watching their colleagues. "So I can understand you not remembering what happened."

"I broke her bloody neck!" the Englishman exclaimed. "You think I could forget something like that?"

"No Mal, you didn't! Maybe you were hallucinating from that venom. But you _didn't_ break her neck. Looks like you did kinda take hold of her when she ran at you, but ultimately you just moved out of the way and let her run over that cliff. I don't know, maybe you did help her propel herself on over it. Anyway, like I said before, Gannet wanted to go down and retrieve her body, ensure she was dead. But I wanted to get you back. Turns out we shoulda listened to her."

Malcolm looked at the floor. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. All this time, he'd thought he'd killed his greatest adversary yet. But she had survived. She was alive, to torment him even more.

"So, Gannett was with you guys out there when you went to rescue Hoshi, huh?" Travis said, with a look of deep anguish on his face. "No wonder you didn't want me to go. You didn't want me to find out!"

"That's not true, Travis, I didn't even know myself at the time," Trip replied.

"Yeah but you found out soon enough. And you never thought I needed to know, that I'd _want_ to know … deserved to know."

"It wasn't like that," Trip said holding up a hand, trying to calm him.

"Yeah? Well what _was_ it like? You guys run off to play the spy game. Lie to everyone, me, your CO. Then you just keep on lying; keep playing with everyone's lives?"

Trip looked bewildered. "C'mon Travis! You know we had to do what we did!"

"Does Hoshi know about you, Malcolm? I mean does she know _everything?"_ Mayweather smiled bitterly as Malcolm just looked down without answering. Then he turned to Jon. "Admiral, did you know?"

Jon's eyes widened slightly, then he shook his head. "No, Travis, I didn't," he said. "You see, it's been a long time since Trip and I were close. He doesn't tell me things like he did in the old days. I didn't know about Gannett, didn't know about a lot of things, still don't."

"Not you too Jon," Trip said miserably.

"You guys only think about yourselves," Travis snapped, his anger spilling over. "Have you thought about the reason any of this is happening – that it could be because of _your actions?_ " No one said anything. "Have you thought about your wives back home…that they could be in danger right now, because of something you've done?"

"Look, mate," Malcolm replied, his voice flat and hard. "We didn't plan for this to happen, it just did. We've all got some shady ladies in our past, else none of us would be here."

"You calling Gannett shady?"

"She's a bloody spy!" Malcolm snapped. "A damned good one at that, one of the best I've ever seen. She did what she did because she had to. I know you don't understand that and you probably never will understand people like us. People like me and Gannett, like Trip."

"Like Trip?" Jon said with a wrinkled forehead.

"Yes," Malcolm answered, and for a moment it seemed that some of the color drained from his face. He sighed and sat back against the wall, hesitating for a moment as if wondering if he should reveal what he was about to. Then he forged on. "All right … the fact is, we're all a part of an elite black ops squadron called _"Excalibur"._ Trip didn't set out to become a part of it, he kind of fell into it. But he's actually become pretty good at it as well.

"But listen," he went on, turning his attention squarely on Travis.

"Gannet was on a mission, and she knew it was something bigger than herself. That's why she left you, Travis; it wasn't because she didn't love you, she did. She agonized over you a lot. But she knew she had to cut you loose, else her relationship with you was going to cause her to compromise herself, or someone on her team. More importantly, her actions could make you a target and get you killed. So, she left. Then, when she saw an opportunity to go deep undercover, she did. And I wasn't about to jeopardize her cover, perhaps even her _life_ , by telling anyone who she really was or what she was doing. Any breach of security on this could have got her killed, or someone on her team, or even someone she loved."

Travis didn't respond to that. He just got up and went to the far corner of the room and put his back to the wall. Then he slid to the floor, just looking straight ahead.

"So, Trip," Jon began, shaking his head. "You're into black ops. T'Pol know?"

"T'Pol is one of us," Trip said. "At least she was until well... until we thought we were going to have a baby. She was already a trained operative, but you knew that."

There was silence for a few moments. "Alright," Jon finally said. "Since Travis and I are obviously out of our league, I'm going to defer to your expertise. What should we do to get out of here?"

"That depends a lot on what these women want with us," Malcolm said.

"Well that's easy," Trip interjected. "Kaitaama wants good ole Trip. Just like before, as a boy-toy. She loves forcing herself on me; just got finished doing just that a few hours ago."

"Yeah, well, tell me about it," Malcolm replied, grimacing. "But I think V'Shele wants more. I think she wants revenge. Also, she's a Romulan operative, you can't ever forget that fact."

"We haven't worked it all out yet, sir, but we're gonna get out of here," Trip said. "Malcolm knows what he's doing. Now that we know what and who we're dealing with, he'll come up with a plan and we _will_ get out of here."

Jon nodded. "Alright, then Captain Reed, I'm officially placing you in charge of this mission. But, is there anything else I need to know or should know? Just so that I'm not blindsided – or him," he said gesturing at Travis.

Trip and Malcolm looked at one another. "Well," Trip said hesitantly, "when I was treated for my brain injury last year, you know with the alien gene therapy ... something happened to me."

"Oh? Something like what?"

"I experienced some side effects from that treatment. And now, I'm like, incredibly strong."

Jon just stared at him. "You mean, strong like Vulcan strong?"

"Even stronger than that," Malcolm replied with a smirk.

"Is that why you keep messing with the door, trying to see if you can pry it open?"

"Had to try," Trip said with a grin. "But that thing's like nothing I've ever seen before. I think I'm making progress with it though." With that, he jumped up and moved toward the door. He positioned himself in front of it and started to push it with all his might. He did this a couple of times, then all of a sudden, something happened. The door moved.

Everyone jumped up. As Trip pushed at the massive door again, and again, it moved ever so slightly. He didn't even have to ask, they all raced over and began to push the door.

Finally, it opened.

=/\=

In Another Part of the Compound.

It was about 2:00 am when Gannet slid out of her room and hurried along to the med bay. She had contacted Yuris and asked if he could see her under the guise of some medical issue. If they were caught, this would be their cover. At this hour medical was not being monitored, so they could talk.

"Doctor," the ex-SI officer said as she entered the room and hurried over to the bio-bed.

"Ms. Brooks," Dr. Yuris replied.

"I told you a thousand times, it's Gannet," she replied.

"As you wish," the doctor said in turn.

"How were they, after getting that blasted so-called _treatment_ I mean?" she asked.

Dr. Yuris shook his head and leaned on the bio-bed for a moment. It was uncharacteristic of the Vulcan. "Those creatures are very dangerous," he began.

"I thought you said the new strand wouldn't cause any brain damage."

"No, they won't. Not actual brain damage. But the psychological effects…"

Suddenly, the med bay door slid open. Gannet and Yuris looked up, a bit startled.

"Sorry," Rajiin said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"No problem," Gannet replied. "Doc here was just about to explain some things to me."

"I cannot believe this is happening," Rajiin said. "All over again. Kaitaama, V'Shele and those goddammed horrible, little creatures! And this time, Jon's infected…and I still don't know where my child is!"

"Hey, hey," Gannet said reaching out and taking the distraught woman's hands in hers. "You gotta hold it together, okay. You've been doing great for a long time. But you can't let your guard down now. If V'Shele and Kaitaama find out we're not really infected, they'll kill us."

"Yes, it is imperative that they believe you are under the influence of the parasites. That you are in consort with them," Dr. Yuris interjected.

"It's just a good thing you were able to infect us with a weak strand," Gannet said to the doctor. "Oh, I mean, infect _me_."

"The creatures you were infected with were already dying," he replied.

"Do you have to remind me?" Gannet said as she made a disgusted face. "And it's really a good thing that those bastards never had any effect on blondie here."

"Yeah, good for me," Rajiin said. "Do you have any idea how hard it's been to pretend like those things have control over me? I've been play acting and lying for so long that sometimes, I don't know what the truth is anymore."

"The truth is that V'Shele and Kaitaama are both deeply disturbed individuals," Yuris chimed in. "And they will stop at nothing to get what they want. They have kidnapped me and brought me here to help carry out their diabolical schemes. It's not so much that I am so concerned for my life…but that of my clan members."

"Doc," you don't have to explain," Gannet replied. "We know you're being held against your will same as us. And we know you're trying to protect your family. I'm just glad you were gracious enough to find a way to keep me from being screwed up by those things."

"And you have done well not to reveal yourself," Yuris replied.

"It's what I do doc, it's what I do. But you were gonna tell me about the condition of the Starfleet officers."

"I saw what those things did to Trip before," Rajiin said. "He became angry and aggressive. Kaitaama hated that."

"Yes," the doctor started. "As I stated, this strand of the creatures are very dangerous as well. While I was able to eleviate the side effect that causes its host to become violent from the creatures, there are still many others. Memory loss, confusion, the loss of self-will, and eventually insanity. Ultimately, the recipients will lose themselves forever. They will become mindless drones, responding only to the will of their masters."

"That's awful," Rajiin replied, lowering her head. "I wouldn't want anyone who didn't want me. If that were the case, I would have never left Earth. But I saw that it wasn't going to work between me and Jon. And I-I hated deceiving him earlier. Using Johnny, the one thing I knew would really hurt him. It was cruel."

"Not any more than I hated deceiving Travis," Gannet said. "I've already hurt him enough. It tore me apart to do what I did to him. But I had to put on the dog and pony show for the cameras, so did you. It's not like we had any choice."

"What is the plan of action going forward?" the doctor asked.

"We need to try and get to Malcolm or Trip," Gannet said. "They're spies. They know how to play the game. If we can get one of them alone, where we can talk, let 'em know that our heads are straight and we're just pretending. Try to convince 'em to fight against the parasites' influence. To get the temporary antidote to them so Rajiin can do her thing. They need to know they can trust us and we're just trying to figure out how to get the hell away from here."

"Not without finding out where V'Shele is hiding Johnny first!" Raijin said in a raised voice.

"Sssshhh!" Gannet replied. "Hold it down! Of course we're going to find out where he is and rescue him. I promise you that. But, first we've got to get to the men and let them know what's really going on."

"In the meantime, I will continue to work on the antidote," the doctor said. "I just wish I had Dr. Phlox's notes. The longer they stay infected, the worse it will become."

"You know I can help with that," Raijiin said. "Just like I did with you Gannet."

"But I wasn't as badly infected as they are," she said in return.

"I can do it," the young woman said.

"But Captain Tucker was badly infected before," the Vulcan said, "and suffered brain damage upon having the cure administered. He above all, is very vulnerable to the creatures. If a cure is not administered soon, he may not be able to be cured. And Captain Reed has suffered two nasty concussions within a short period of time. He is at serious risk as well."

"Then we better hurry," Gannet said and jumped off the bio-bed. "Let's get back to our rooms. You never know who's roaming the halls, creeping and snooping around."

With that, they exited the med bay.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten** : _**Freedom**_

It was a gamble. They had no idea where they were going. But they were free and that was all that mattered.

They crouched along the corridor, hoping to avoid any cameras. The first window they came to, they surveyed whether it led to the outside world and whether it was ground level or involved a drop. Thankfully, it was ground level. Malcolm and Trip set about opening the window and removing it so that they could exit through it.

Once outside the men took off at the run.

They ran through the grounds of the compound where they were being housed, and thankfully no alarms went off. There were guards in a tower and a light scanning the grounds. But the men dodged it, taking cover under the brush or hilly terrain in the event the spotlight shone on them.

The grounds were bordered by a wall, which took some scrambling over, especially in the state they were in now. Once they cleared that, they kept going – they wanted to put some solid distance between themselves and the place where they'd been imprisoned. Unsure where to go but knowing only that they had to keep going, they raced over some low hills and entered a forest.

"This doesn't look like Capella Prime," Malcolm panted as they continued barreling through the cluster of trees and brush. His body was quite sore, his injuries screaming at him to stop. But he ignored their cries and continued to run.

"I was… thinking the…exact same thing," Trip shouted back from the front of the pack as he raced through the brush.. "That compound… looks totally different. But it…could be…another one."

"We still…need…need to take…precautions…" Malcolm warned. "There's no…telling… what…lovely little surprises…this planet…has for us!"

"Where are…we…going?" Jon asked.

"Not certain," Trip gasped.

"We'll figure… that out…once we're…far enough…away from… the crazy ladies!" Malcolm shouted. "So, keep running!"

After they had taken a couple of breaks and covered an estimated eight to ten miles, they found a cave and decided to hunker down.

"I don't think we're far…enough…away," Travis said to his colleagues.

"Easy… for you… to say…young…whipper…snapper," Jon said through deep breaths, then leaned over placing both hands on his knees, which were shaking with fatigue by now.

"He's right, though," Malcolm agreed. Possibly he looked even worse than the admiral, but he was still worried. "We should…rest…just till we've got our breath back, and … get moving."

"Not sure if…if I can," Trip said, holding his right side, then slid down onto the ground.

Malcolm was already surveying the cave, feeling along the walls, walking back and forwards toward the entrance then deeper into the cave as the others watched.

"It's what he does," Trip said tiredly, and shrugged.

"So, we have no weapons, no scanners, no equipment whatsoever," Jon said. "What do we do now?"

"We look for anything we can use to use to make weapons," Malcolm directed, his breathing getting more even. "Sharp rocks, discarded pieces of metal, sturdy boughs."

"Do we make a fire?" Travis asked.

"We gather wood, yes, but we'll wait until it's very dark to make a fire. And we don't light it where it's visible from outside, or we'll draw pursuit to ourselves. We not only need it to keep warm but may need it to ward off any indigenous creatures we may encounter."

"Okay," Jon said, straightening up with a grimace. "Why don't Travis and I gather wood?"

"Fine," Malcom agreed. "But stay close and be careful. I'll search for something to construct some weapons out of. Trip, when we approached the cave I noticed a couple of large boulders up top. Think you could climb up there and…"

"I'm way ahead of ya," Trip replied. Then they all started to move outside to get started on their assignments, when Trip placed his hand on Malcolm's shoulder stopping him for a moment. Malcolm turned to face him.

"Why don't you stay put Mal," his friend said. "You don't look so good."

"I'll be fine," Malcolm replied.

"Maybe," Trip said. "But your head feels like it's about to split open, doesn't it?"

"I'm sure we all have the same bloody headache," Malcolm insisted.

"Yeah but that fight you had with the devil's daughter sure didn't help yours any. You need to be still a while, give the concussion some time to heal."

"How the hell do you know I have a concuss…" Malcolm started, then stopped. He'd forgotten that Trip could somehow sense what was going on in his head. "I'll get some rest tonight when we get settled in," he relented. "But for now, we just need to get this done. Survival 101."

Trip shook his head in agreement. "Fair enough," he said, knowing Malcolm was right. Then they exited the cave.

Jon and Travis gathered plenty of wood and kindling to start a fire and placed it in a recess deep inside the cave. Malcolm found several tough, slender boughs and sharp rocks that looked like arrowheads that he thought he could fashion into a spear-like weapon or some type of bow and arrow.

Trip climbed on top of the cave and when everyone was well out of the way, pushed one of the large boulders down just in front of the cave. He pushed it just about all the way in front of the entrance, leaving just enough space to squeeze inside himself.

"I can't get over you being able to do that," Jon said as he sat on the cave floor and Trip rejoined them.

"Me neither," Travis said as he threw the kindling on the pile to build the fire. Trip just shrugged and came over to sit in the circle with his friends.

"We can't stay here long," Malcolm said. "V'Shele and her band of merry women will send Zeus and Apollo after us as soon as they discover us missing. Since they usually don't check on us overnight, I'm sure it will be first thing in the morning, when they deliver our morning gruel."

"Yeah, we need to be long gone by then," Trip said. "Cause the twin towers will be able to move that rock for sure. And there's no other way outta here."

"But we have no idea where we are or where we're going," Jon interjected. "We don't know what happened to our ship and we don't have any way to contact Starfleet."

"Maybe we should try looking for a city or a town," Travis said. "There may be some one there that can help."

"Risky," Malcolm replied. "My thinking was that two of us would head back to the compound and attempt to locate the ship. Or, try to find a way to send a message to Starfleet."

"That sounds like our best bet," Trip said. "When do we leave?"

"I don't think we should go together," the Brit answered, much to Trip's disappointment.

"What? Mal, we're a team! You know I've got your back just like you've always had mine!"

"That's not it," Malcolm assured his friend. "You're not thinking straight. We may not find our ship, but we may find some other type alien craft. If I take Travis along with me, he's the best option for figuring out how to fly it. I know as an engineer you could as well, but I'd also like to leave you behind to protect the Admiral. If Travis and I don't return, you'll be his best bet for getting off this blasted planet."

Trip nodded reluctantly. "Makes sense," he said. "Makes a lot of sense."

"Now that that's settled, let's try to get some rest," Jon said. "As much as one _can_ rest on this concrete floor."

"We need to keep watch," said Malcolm. "Two hours each. I'll take the first."

"Oh no you won't," Trip said. Malcolm was about to say more, but Trip cut him off. " _I'll_ take the first. You get some rest, and maybe you can take the last watch," he said, not really planning on allowing the Brit to take a turn at all. Then he slipped outside, to climb up above the cave mouth and make sure no-one approached.

Then the rest of the party settled in for a restless and uncomfortable night.

=/\=

The next day Malcolm and Travis sneaked back to the compound. Apparently, their escape had indeed been discovered and V'Shele had a group of her guards as well as Apollo and Zeus out looking for them.

Listening at windows and doors, they heard that she had gone berserk upon learning that the prisoners were gone. Gannet had apparently volunteered to be a part of the search team and had gone out accompanied by the giants. She figured that if she stumbled upon the men, the mentally-impaired big men would be easy to dupe. Not to mention that Dr. Yuris had given her a powerful sedative to subdue them.

Once inside the compound, the officers were pleasantly surprised that it was minimally occupied. They were however, reminded quickly that they were not exactly at their best themselves by now, having to stop and rest more often than not. The broken night on top of the events of the previous day and the long trek back to the compound had taken their toll.

"I thought Captain Tucker said it took weeks for these things to start screwing with him," Travis said as he bent over with his hands on his knees. Malcolm had slid onto the floor of the closet they were hiding in.

"New strand, remember," his companion replied. "My head feels like it weighs a ton."

"I'm having a really hard time focusing," the younger man said.

"But we've got a job to do mate, so we have to suck it up." Then he rose, stumbling, to his feet.

"You okay?" Travis asked, standing up straight.

Malcolm nodded. "Let's move."

The two men looked around before exiting the closet, then set out crouching along the corridor as they'd done the night before. They hurried along, trying several doors, but these were locked, and they hadn't got time to pick a way in.

"This place is like Fort Knox," Travis said. "There has to be a cargo bay or launch pad somewhere."

"They could be on the other end of the compound for all we know."

"And as huge as this place is, it might be tomorrow before we get there." Travis groaned. "Considering our condition."

"Let's just continue searching inside while we have the chance," Malcolm told his comrade. "The search party won't be gone forever and we might be able to find something that will give us an idea about where the ship is. A PADD, a computer…"

"An unsuspecting minion? We may be able to just ask somebody for directions."

Malcolm looked hard at him. "Mate, are you daft or are those parasites affecting you more than I thought?"

"Hey, man!" Travis began with a scowl.

Malcolm held up his hand. "I'm sorry," he said. "But look, I know undercover work is not your strong suit, but by now everyone knows who we are and if I know V'Shele, they have been instructed to take us down on sight."

Travis just stared at the floor, silently kicking himself for sounding like such a rookie, for sounding so naïve.

"We're _not_ asking for directions," the Brit finally said, sounding as if he was trying to make a bit of a joke of it to ease the tension.

"Why not," a voice said from behind. "I might be inclined to give them to you."

The two men jumped, startled. "Rajiin!"

Malcolm immediately took a stance.

"So, you're gonna fight me?" the young woman asked, smiling at him. "Well, I could probably take you in the condition you're in."

"But not both of us," Travis said, moving to stand beside him in support.

Suddenly, there were other voices coming from around the corner.

"In here," Rajinn said. "Hurry!" The two men just stood staring for a few moments, and she threw a look of angry fear over her shoulder. "Okay, if you want to take your chances with those guards, go right ahead. They're gonna just turn you back over to V'Shele!"

"And you're not," Malcolm spat. "Why should we trust you?"

"Because I'm not really working with V'Shele, it's a ruse," Rajiin said quickly. "Because I was brought here against my will too! Because I know how to help you with a temporary cure and because you don't have any other choice! Decide, but you'd better do it quick!"

She was right. There really was no other choice. Malcolm and Travis hurriedly followed her into a room and closed the door. She gestured for them to be quiet until the guards had gone away.

"What is this, Rajiin?" Malcolm hissed, grabbing her by the arm. "Why are you pretending to help us? Admiral Archer told us what happened. You're working with V'Shele!"

"Like I said a minute ago, I'm _pretending_ to work with V'Shele," the young woman replied. "So is Gannet."

"What?" Malcolm and Travis said simultaneously.

"Why should we believe you?" asked the captain. "I'm sure the Admiral would have something to say about your brand of trust and loyalty!"

"Didn't I prove myself on Krios Prime?" Rajiin demanded. "I never wanted to hurt Jon…to hurt any of you. I was brought here against my will just like you were. V'Shele and Kaitaama tried to have me infected with the parasites so they could control me and in turn, get control of Jon."

"Why?" Malcolm questioned her, moving a little closer in a way he knew was intimidating.

"It's a long story, and I don't have time to tell you everything. But you don't have to believe me." Then she whipped out a communicator and spoke to someone.

"Who the hell are you calling?"

"Let's get out of here Mal!" Travis said, panicking. "While we still can!"

"Don't be stupid!" Rajiin spat. "I just called for Dr. Yuris."

"Yuris!" Malcolm exclaimed.

"Yes."

"What's Dr. Yuris doing here?"

"Same as us," she replied bitterly. "Kidnapped, brought here against his will."

Travis shook his head and laughed a little. "You women are all… I don't know who's more screwed up between the four of you."

"I do," Malcolm replied sourly. "Look Rajiin, we're leaving now. You can try to stop us if you want, but…we just don't believe you."

The two men turned to go. But the door slid open before they could exit.

"Dr. Yuris?" Malcolm said, clearly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

The Vulcan looked at Rajiin. "Didn't she tell you?" he asked.

"Well, she told us _something,_ but her reputation for veracity isn't exactly stellar," the brit snapped,

"I was kidnapped over six months ago. Allow me to show you something if it will help convince you that I'm telling you the truth." With that the doctor whipped out a PADD and pulled up a video. It was a news reel about the doctor's disappearance.

"How do we know this is authentic?" Travis asked suspiciously.

"You don't have to believe me, or Rajiin," Yuris said. "You can choose to go it alone, with your escape plan that is. But let me share something with you. I know you are infected with the parasites, and this strand is far more potent than the first one. No doubt you are already feeling their effects. By now, you are more than likely feeling ill, as if you're coming down with Rigelian flu. Within a few more days you will become weaker, the headaches will become more pronounced and you will be confused, unable to determine what is real and what is not. After a few more days, you will begin to lose your memory and your free will. You will be bound to the women who desire you. You will not be able to get free – you will become slaves. If not treated, eventually you will become permanently insane."

"Why would those women have us infected if the end result is madness? Who would want that?" Travis spat.

"Because they are insane themselves, and not due to any infection," Yuris replied heavily.

"What about her?" Malcolm gestured at Rajiin. "If her motives are pure as she says, and she really doesn't want to hurt or control the Admiral, then the parasites won't be effective, will they?"

"One would think not," the doctor responded. "I have little experience with these creatures. But I suspect that even if she does not desire to control your Admiral, he will soon be so impaired that it will not matter. He will bend to her desire and will, whatever is deep inside of her."

"This stuff is really confusing," Travis said miserably.

"And it will only become more confusing," the doctor replied. Then he nodded at Rajiin.

She took out a flask. "You need to drink this, Malcolm," she said. "Then I can help you. When your head clears a bit, I can take you to your ship."

Malcolm looked at the young woman warily. This could all be a trick. He wasn't any too clear in the head and Travis wasn't too sharp at the moment either. But he had to make a decision. Suddenly he grabbed the flask and drank the contents.

"Here," she said to Travis. He took it and after a moment of hesitation, drank the foul liquid.

=/\=

When they woke up, they were on the floor wondering if what had happened to them had actually happened. Unfortunately, it had. Several of the creatures had literally crawled out of their ears and belly buttons. Malcolm looked at his blood-stained shirt and frowned. Travis stumbled to his feet, but after a few minutes, his head began to clear and he didn't feel sick anymore.

True to her word, Rajiin took them to their ship. They were elated but their initial euphoria quickly faded when they learned it was damaged and in need of repairs.

They needed Trip.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven:** _ **Indentity**_

Malcolm and Travis had to leave the compound before V'Shele and her search team returned.

When they returned to the cave they told Trip and Jon what had happened. They also gave them a flask of the serum to drink. Without Raijin's help, it took a lot longer for the parasites to move. She was a touch telepath and could create illusions once she established a link with someone's mind. Therefore, if she could touch the mind of an individual infected with the parasites, she could tell the creatures to go. That's what she had done with Travis and Malcolm. However, since she wasn't in Trip and Jon's presence, the serum had to work independently to expel the foreign invaders. But after several hours, they exited the men's bodies through their ears, nasal and navel cavities. They had been disgusted by the black, one to two-inch long, slimy creatures. But were glad to be rid of at least some of them.

After their heads began to clear, the men decided it was prudent to move to another hiding place. They knew the search party was out and about and they wanted to stay a step ahead. Besides, Trip needed to get back to the compound so he could look at the ship. As they trekked through the terrain, they were forced to take cover in a swampy area to hide from the guards searching the area.

While they were resting in hiding, they started to hear noises.

"What's that?" Jon whispered as they lay among the brush in the swamp.

"Oh no," Trip said after a few moments, for the sound was far too familiar. "C'mon guys, we gotta go!" He sounded panicked as he leaped to his feet.

"We can't go out there!" Travis replied.

"We can't stay here either," the engineer answered desperately. "We gotta get the hell out of here, _now!_ "

"What is it?" Jon asked.

"Kai-yas!" he yelled as the screeching sound became louder. "This is a kai-ya swamp!"

The men all leaped up, as they all were well aware of Trip and Malcolm's ordeals with the kai-yas on Capella Prime. But before they could exit the swamp, they were attacked.

The kai-yas came seemingly from nowhere, and they were suddenly everywhere. The men kicked them and pulled them off of their bodies, hitting and swatting at the boneless, spineless, crystalline creatures that looked like stingrays back on Earth, as they tried to latch hold with their tentacle-like arms.

"Don't let them latch on to you!" Trip screamed. "Don't let 'em sting you in the chest or neck! They can… paralyze your…lungs… they can cut off… your ability… to breathe!" He gasped in terror as he fought off the creatures.

"Tell me…about it!" Malcolm shouted as he batted the swarm away as best he could. Of course, he'd had the unpleasant experience of being injected with kai-ya venom on Capella Prime. So, he had first-hand knowledge as to what they were capable of.

"This is insane!" Travis yelled as he fought against the creatures who had started to cover his lower body.

"Travis!" Jon yelled. "They're…they're covering… you!"

But suddenly, as if by some signal, the kai-yas all flew off of their victims and settled onto the ground around them. The men stood watching, panting, not knowing what was happening.

"What are they doing – what's happening?" Jon asked fearfully.

"I don't know, but I say we get the hell out of here while we've got the chance!" Trip said.

"I concur," Malcolm agreed, and went to step gingerly into a clear space in the swarm of white creatures gathered in front of them. "Nice and easy, mates."

But suddenly, the kai-yas did something neither Trip nor Malcolm had ever seen. They began to meld together. Then, several of them stood upright, as tall as their victims.

"What the hell!" Trip yelled.

"What now?" Jon asked.

"Run!" Malcolm shouted. And the men took off. But the creatures were astonishingly swift and agile, and moments later one of them leaped onto Jon and wrapped itself around him. He fell to the ground. Before Trip or Malcolm could get to him, Travis too was attacked. He fell to the ground, engulfed by the creature.

Malcolm and Trip glanced at one another, stunned and despairing, as the now "giant" ki-yas flew into them and covered them, hurling them to the ground as they squirmed and tried to get free even as the huge insect-creatures began binding them in sticky, tangling threads. More stings went home into their bodies even as the bonds went tighter and tighter.

Moments later, several of V'Shele's guards entered the swamp and started to shoot the creatures. The remaining ones scurried or flew away. The men then started to shoot at the cocoons the giant ones had the Starfleet officers entrapped in. The creatures screeched loudly, freed their victims and flew away.

But the men were all unconscious now.

The guards then lifted the officers and carried them back to the compound.

=/\=

Several hours Later: The Infirmary

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Yuris asked Jon.

He tried to sit up, but felt extremely weak, as if his strength had been zapped out of him. He leaned up on one elbow instead. "I feel like hell," he finally replied, looking at his arms, which looked like pin cushions. "Anybody else been awake yet?" he asked, looking around at his officers.

"Captain Tucker woke up for a short time, but I gave him a sedative. He was still in a lot of pain and still had a lot of swelling."

Jon felt his face. It felt puffy. "Are they…they gonna be alright?" he asked.

"They will be fine. It will take several days for the pain and soreness to go away from having been stung by the creatures all over. But, no permanent damage. I was able to reverse the damage to each of your lungs quickly before there was any scarring. Commander Mayweather was stung in the throat, but because the guards responded so rapidly he sustained no permanent damage there either. He just may not be able to speak clearly for several days. Captain Tucker's legs were badly stung, so walking will be out for him for a few hours. Captain Reed, however, suffered quite a bit of blood loss. Those things are blood-suckers as well. The kai-ya that attacked him sapped much of his strength, and he will likely be extremely exhausted for several days."

Jon frowned for a few moments, still concerned for his men. Then he realized who he was talking to. "I understand you were kidnapped as well," he said, remembering Malcolm and Travis' conversation about the doctor and his plight.

"Yes, six months ago."

"We'll get you…get you out of here…when we go," Jon said as he slowly lay back down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

=/\=

The Starfleet officers were still recovering from being attacked by the kai-yas. They had never encountered the giant ones and had been stung pretty badly all over their bodies. They had been rendered unconscious for hours, but now they were fully awake and feeling the effects of the swelling and the stings. They had been treated in the infirmary and placed in a new location.

Having had them break out of the dungeon, V'Shele wouldn't risk putting them back there until she could figure out how they had escaped. But she still didn't know about Trip's extraordinary strength, so the jail cells used to hold and transport criminals did not prove strong enough either. When they were all back to full strength, Trip was able to break them out, and once again, they went on the run.

=/\=

V'Shele was beside herself. She examined the bent bars of the prison cells with her confidante and advisor. Her face was beet red as she was barely able to contain her anger. Her companion simply walked along beside her with his hands clasped behind his back with no expression on his face.

"How is this possible?" the Romulan asked as she looked at the bars running her hands along them.

"Did not your video surveillance reveal anything?" the Vulcan male asked.

"This a very old compound," his comrade replied. "We continue to experience energy fluctuations periodically and have not been able to prevent complete shut downs in certain areas. Unfortunately, the cameras shut down but were only off for a short time, less than fifteen minutes I'm told."

"That explains why no alarms went off when the captives went roaming through the corridors and traipsing across the grounds. But what of the guards in the tower?"

"They report having seen nothing unusual, no one coming or going," she replied.

"And the whole thing seems not odd to you?" her companion asked with a tone.

V'Shele thought for a moment. "What are you suggesting?" she asked with a sneer.

"That there is more going on that meets the eye Mistress. That the prisoners had help- that there may well be a traitor among us."

"A traitor!" V'Shele shouted. "The power went out and the bars were bent! How does that equate to a betrayal?"

"How is it that they just happen to make their escape during the power failure, when no alarms would sound and no surveillance cameras could alert the guards? Don't you think someone had to have tipped them off. That they should attempt such a move during this time?"

"But who?" she asked. "And what about the jail cells? The only ones capable of bending those bars are Zeus and Apollo," she snapped. "And they wouldn't have done it. They are loyal to me."

"Yet they are dull creatures," her compatriot replied. "Perhaps easily persuaded by a shiny trinket, a toy or food." She did not respond so he continued. "Mistress, please allow me to impart something else to consider," he said with a slight bow.

She thought for a moment, then nodded her head. "Go ahead," she replied.

"You are most gracious," the man said, then went on. "When the prisoners are recovered, and they shall be recovered. Separate them. Do not allow them to be housed in the same place or close proximity. Then conduct a test to determine how the escape was engineered. My guess is that someone gave the captives the information regarding the facilities' propensity for power failures. Perhaps they have been biding their time until such a failure would occur and then one of the captives used his cunning to entice one of the giants into assisting them. Administer the proper incentive, and I am certain one of them will tell you what you want to know. Then allow _me_ to deal with the culprit."

She smiled a sinister smile. "What you suggest has merit," she said. "I will administer the test, then- the guilty party is yours."

"My purpose is to serve," he said, and they exited the room.

=/\=

The men had settled into yet another hiding place. Luckily they also had a tracking device that allowed Gannet to locate them. The next day, she was able to sneak out of the compound and find the men.

It was awkward for Travis to have her around, and he still didn't trust her. When she first arrived, she found Jon and Travis alone, and burst into tears of relief on finding Travis safe and well. Then the three of them settled down to wait for the rest of the party to return before making plans.

Trip and Malcolm were surveying the surrounding area for their next hideout, not wanting to stay anywhere too long.

The two officers combed the terrain, being very careful in case the guards were on the prowl.

When suddenly, walking around a stand of tall bushes, Malcolm was stunned as he came face to face with… _himself._ That's right, it was his exact replica. Another Malcolm Reed, a 5 ft 9 inch, muscular 165 pound, black haired, grey-eyed, completely _naked,_ Malcolm Reed staring them in the face.

"Bloody, freaking hell!" The real Malcolm stifled a yell only with difficulty – making any loud noise could be suicidal, but really it was almost impossible to be calm in such a situation. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" But the frightened man scuttered away like a rabbit.

Malcolm and Trip took off after him. They caught up to him, and Malcolm in the lead jumped him, hurling him to the ground. They rolled around struggling for a moment, and just as Trip caught up to them in the brush he could hear his friend screaming. It seemed the duplicate had deployed some kind of charge and was either electrocuting the real one or stinging him.

There was no alternative but to release the prisoner, who scuttered away so quickly that Trip didn't have time to go after him. Besides he had to see about his friend.

"What did he do to you?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm not certain," Malcolm answered weakly, "but it bloody hurt. I think it was stinging me or … seemed to be generating some type of electricity."

"You okay?"

"I'll live."

"Who the hell _was_ that?"

"Buggered if I know," Malcolm replied, for once battered out of propriety. But suddenly they were confronted by another visitor – a six-foot-tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, speechless, screeching, naked Trip.

"You gotta be kiddin me!" Trip shouted. "What the hell _are_ you? Are you human?" But duplicate Trip screeched at his counterpart a few more times, threw a large rock at him, and then ran off. Trip ran after him for a while, but the duplicate was twice as fast and soon shot up the side of a mountain, losing him altogether.

A few moments later Trip rejoined Malcolm, whose face and hands had started to turn red from being stung.

"Didn't catch him?' he asked the engineer, though he already knew the answer.

"He was fast as a jack-rabbit on steroids. What the hell is goin' on, Mal?"

"I don't know. But we need to get back to camp, let the others know what's happened."

"You need something for those stings too."

The Brit nodded grimly.

Trip and Malcolm walked back to the camp, about a mile or so. By the time they got back, Malcolm could neither speak nor move his right arm.

"Were you able to find anything?' Jon asked, then noticed Malcolm's face and hand. "What the hell happened?"

"Looks like you guys got attacked by another herd of kai-yas," Gannet said worriedly.

"Hey Gannet," Trip said. "Not exactly, kai-yas this time. You're not gonna believe it when we tell you. But Mal here can't speak right now. We got anything to treat these stings with?"

"I'll see," Travis said, and went into the cave to check the supplies that Dr. Yuris had provided for them.

"What happened to him?" Jon asked again as Malcolm sat on a nearby rock, shaking and weak, his eyes unfocussed.

"We're not alone out here," Trip began. "V'Shele musta found a way to clone some of us…'cause…'cause Mal and I just ran smack into our exact images out there!"

Jon raised both his eyebrows at that.

"Honest to God, that's what happened! They were our exact duplicates! They couldn't speak mind you, they just made this screeching sound. The other Mal attacked him, stung him all up, now he can't speak or use his hand!"

"Trip that sounds…crazy!" Jon said.

"Here," Travis said, handing Malcolm an ice pack and a hypo. He took the items with his other hand and administered the treatment to himself, grimly determined.

"Not really," Gannet said. They all turned and looked at her. "Look, a few days ago, you guys got attacked by the kai-yas, the giant kind, right? The ones that stood up and engulfed you, caused you to pass out?" The men all nodded. "Well, those things can sting you to death if they want, or…they can render you unconscious and…take your form."

"What!" Trip said incredulously. "Seems I remember you tellin' us that story on Capella Prime before. You said it was a joke!"

"That's what I thought," Gannet replied. "I mean, I thought it was just one of the legends about the planet. But apparently it's not a legend here on Capella Prime II. Those giant kai-yas can take your form, but don't worry, they're not sentient. From what I've seen, and from what Yuris says, they're just mindless blobs that live for a couple of days then go away somewhere, turn to ash and die. No harm done."

"No harm done!" Trip shouted. "Gannett! _He looked just like me!_ "

"It wasn't a _"he"_ Trip, it's just a thing. It has no mind."

"How do you know that?"

"Because…V'Shele has been trying to…to use them to perfect the cloning process for some time. With no success." The young woman looked away.

"She's used you as a test subject?" Tavis asked.

"She's used all of us," she replied. "She just keeps replicating everybody, over and over again."

"That's sick," Jon said.

"Not quite everyone," she continued. "It doesn't seem to work on Raijiin; V'Shele thinks it's fascinating and Kaitaama thinks it's funny. Dr. Yuris claims not to have any emotion about it, but I know better."

"So, what do we do if we encounter more of these _replicates_ out there?" Jon demanded.

"It's best to put them out of their misery right away," Gannet said sadly. Travis made a disgusted sound and walked away.

"Just kill em?" Trip snapped.

"It's better that way," she snapped back. "Better than to watch one of them wither up and die or listen to one of them whine and make that screeching sound half the night till they choke on it!" She then put her hand over her eyes a moment before checking her weapon. "Look, I'd better get back before I'm missed. I'll check on you tomorrow if I can. As soon as I can, Trip, I'll get you the parts you need for your ship. V'Shele's search team is still looking for you along the river, so keep to the mountain range unless I tell you different." Then she turned and ran into the forest.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve:** _ **The Bet**_

The Starfleet officers had managed to escape twice, yet luck it seemed, was not with them. For all their care, it didn't take long for the men to be re-captured, this time by Zeus and Apollo. They could not believe their misfortune, having been cornered by the large men in their cave hide-out, easily subdued and dragged back to the compound.

They were placed this time in separate cells, in the brig of V'Shele's ship. She wasted no time getting to the bottom of things and had them brought before her.

The Romulan walked up and down past the four Starfleet officers, seething with anger, looking each of them up and down. They all watched her, their anger equally comparable.

"Who is it?" she snarled through her teeth. No one said anything. " _I said_ , who is it?"

She continued to glare at the men as they stood silent. "Either there is a strongman among you, or someone assisted you in escaping. I want to know who it is, either way!" she demanded. "One of you bastards has either broken out of the dungeon, and then the prison, or convinced Zeus or Apollo to help you. Since I don't believe either of them are capable of betraying me, one of you had to have bent the bars on the cell doors and I'm sure it's a matter of time before you break out of the brig. I want to know who did it and how!"

Each of the men looked straight ahead, saying nothing.

"Okay," V'Shele said as Apollo stood behind her. Then she moved close to Jon, staring at him. "I don't really know you well, but I can't really see it being you, but then again, I can't be sure."

Then she moved over and stood in front of Travis. "I don't know anything about you either," she said. "It could well be you, for all I know."

Then she moved in front of Trip. "I'd be really surprised if it were _your_ pathetic ass, but stranger things have happened."

When she stood in front of Malcolm, he stared her directly in the eyes. They were almost the same height. "My money's on you!" she snapped. "Something must have happened to you during our time apart." But Malcolm never spoke a word nor flinched a muscle. She finally broke his gaze and gestured for her bodyguard to hand her a long metal bar.

She took the bar and thrust it into Malcolm's hands. "Bend it," she demanded.

He tossed it back to her. "I can't," he said.

"Bend it!" she shouted, tossing the bar back.

"I said I can't do it!" the Brit countered.

V'Shele drew her phase pistol. "Bend the goddamned bar or I'll blow your fucking head off!" she shouted.

Malcolm just dropped it to the ground.

"Shoot me then," he said calmly. "Because I can't bend the bloody thing."

V'Shele then turned to Travis. "Pick it up," she demanded. The helmsman did as instructed. "Now bend it!"

Travis took the bar between his hands and pushed it inward as hard as he could, until sweat popped out on his forehead, but to no avail. "Satisfied?" he finally said.

"You're not trying hard enough!" she yelled and pointed the phase pistol at the young man's head.

"Guess you're gonna have to go ahead and use that thing then," he said. "Cause I can't bend it either."

V'Shele snatched the bar from Travis and threw it at Jon who barely caught it. "No use," he said. "I can't…"

"Look damn it!" the Romulan shouted, her patience finally running out. "No more games. There is a strongman among you and I want to know who it is, right now. Apollo!"

With that the big man grabbed Jon and lifted him off the floor by the throat and began to choke him with one hand.

"Stop!" Trip shouted when Jon's struggles began to get weaker. "Stop it, I said! Okay, okay! It's me!"

V'Shele turned and looked at him but said nothing.

"I _said_ , it's me!"

She still did not respond. Trip hurried over, grabbed the metal rod off the floor, bent it, then twisted it into a knot and threw it at her feet.

"Happy?" he yelled. "Now let him go!"

She snapped her fingers and Apollo let Jon fall to the floor. He gasped for air as Malcolm and Travis raced over to attend to him.

"How?" she scowled. "What the hell happened to you!"

Trip hesitated, then said, "Alien gene therapy, couple of years ago. It was used to cure the brain damage left by Kaitaama's friggin' little friends, you know, those goddamned slugs!"

"Take him," she told her giant henchman as she pointed toward Trip. Then she faced him. "If it were not for Kaitaama and she had not been responsible for gifting me with those lovely little parasitic creatures, the _slugs_ as you call them," she seethed. "I'd blow your head off and have done with your ass. But alas, she wants you, so you get to live. I do, however, have a special cage just for you, one that I have no doubt you _won't_ be escaping from."

With that, Apollo grabbed Trip and dragged him off.

=/\=

V'Shele had Trip placed in a cage designed for an indigenous bird-like creature called a "squawking." It resembled a prehistoric velociraptor with huge wings.

He really hated being in the giant cage, but he was powerless to do anything about it. It was made out of a metal alloy that he couldn't bend and he'd been trying to do so for the last several hours; V'Shele had known what she was doing when had ordered Apollo to put him in it. After all, he'd gotten out of the dungeon and the prison cell.

He was also bored out of his mind, just sitting alone with his thoughts. Of course, Kaitaama had come to visit for a couple of hours and she spent the whole time talking about such stupid, trivia nonsense that Trip would have gladly slit his own wrist had he had something sharp enough to put himself out of his misery. As he sat musing, he had another visitor.

"Well, if it isn't the infamous _Captain_ Charles Anthony Tucker, III!"

Trip jerked around and looked up from the floor, he knew that voice.

"Of course, when I knew you, you were merely a lowly engineer," the new arrival sneered. "Oh, forgive me, a _Commander_ that is."

"Koss!" Trip said, not able to believe his eyes.

"Yes," the Vulcan replied. "So, you were the one who convinced Zeus or perhaps Apollo to help you escape, just as I suspected."

"What?" Trip asked with a frown. Koss obviously didn't know what had happened just a few hours ago with V'Shele's test.

"What the hell are you even doing here?" Trip snarled as he rose and grabbed two of the bars of the cage.

"That's none of your concern," the Vulcan replied. "What you _should_ be concerned about, however, is whether you'll ever leave this place again."

"Oh I'm getting the fuck off this rock! That, you can count on, asshole!"

"Still as rude and crude as ever," Koss replied. "No decorum, no restraint. I've often wondered what T'Pol could have possibly seen in you."

"Obviously something she didn't see in you, lying, cheating, scum-bag!"

"What do you mean by that?" Koss asked, his anger starting to stir.

"You can play your little games all you want! But I know all about your little harem!"

"'Harem'!"

"Yeah Koss! Your collection of assorted alien whores on various planets! Vulcan, Coridian, Earth, Romulus, even Andoria!"

"Lies! All lies!" he shouted, getting closer to the cage.

"Why would I lie?" Trip asked through his teeth. "I happen to have a good friend who's real good at investigations. I had you checked out the first year we were out in space on Enterprise. Back when T'Pol dumped your ass the first time! You were engaged to her, but you were screwing everything that moved while she was saving herself for marriage!"

"You think I'm that gullible! That I actually believe that you and she were not…!"

"No Koss, we weren't! She wasn't sleeping with me, nor with anyone else!"

"How would you even know if she was or not?"

"Because I've been in her head, that's how!"

It was hard to tell whether Koss was more incredulous or outraged. "Impossible! You are not Vulcan! You cannot possibly possess a bond with her!"

"Oh but I do," Trip grinned. "We've been bonded for years. We share one another's thoughts and feelings, dreams, fears and desires."

"You worthless liar!" he shouted turning green around the gill and visibly shaking.

"Koss! Tsk, tsk! That was a strong display of _emotion_ , brother! Negative emotion at that! Perhaps you'd better go meditate, see if you can pull it back in. If you need help with that, I'm rather astute at it. I might be willin' to help you out."

"You stupid, weak, insignificant human!" Koss shouted. "I would no more allow _you_ to instruct me in the art of meditation than I would a diseased sehlat!"

"You know, I don't know what the hell you're doing here, Koss, with these crazy bitches, but it doesn't matter, not really. And whatever they're payin' you, in the end it won't matter or change anything. It won't change the fact that T'Pol is mine, not yours! She chose me, and you can't do a thing about it! So get out of my face and leave me the hell alone!"

"You arrogant, undisciplined, obtuse asshole!"

"Asshole!" Trip laughed. "If I didn't know any better, Koss, I'd think you were _v'tosh ka'tur –_ a Vulcan without logic!"

"I'll show you a Vulcan without logic!" Koss roared. With that he rushed over to the cage and whipped out a PADD. He entered something in it and suddenly the key pad on the door of the bird cage hummed and lit up. Koss then entered a code in that and as it slipped open he leapt on top of Trip so fast the officer went flying across the floor, crashing his head against the other side of the metal cage. He was stunned as this metal was extremely dense and unforgiving.

Trip was trying to defend himself but was dazed from hitting his head so hard. Koss also began punching him mercilessly before he could recover.

Then Koss did something totally unexpected.

He began to taunt Trip and to tear his clothes off of him. He ripped the brown jumpsuit he was wearing down to his waist, all the while trying to remove his own clothing.

Realizing what Koss was trying to do, and what he meant when he said he would _"teach him a lesson he would never forget"_ , Trip found new strength when the Vulcan lowered himself over him. He grabbed Koss around the throat and threw him off of him, much to the would-be rapist's surprise. Then Trip quickly scrambled to his feet and dived onto the bigger man, pummeling him with multiple punches to his head and face.

Koss was able to use his knee to get Trip off of him but not for long as the two men were soon locked into a struggle against the cage, finally falling outside of the door as each tried to gain the upper hand.

Trip won.

He had Koss in a sleep hold, both his forearms tightly locked around the Vulcan's neck. But he had no intention of putting him to sleep. He was just about to render the death blow when a blast from a phase pistol whizzed past his head, slightly grazing his left ear.

"The next one goes between your eyes," V'Shele said coldly.

Trip was tempted. He was so angry at what Koss had tried to do to him, he started to just go ahead and snap his worthless neck, but he changed his mind. If he was dead, his fellow Starfleet officers would have no chance of getting out of this.

"You no kill!" Zeus said and grabbed Trip's arm, causing him to drop the near-unconscious Vulcan on to the floor. Then he pushed the Human back into the cage – hard. He stumbled and fell onto the floor as the big man locked the door.

"Mistress want punish?" Zeus asked, pointing at Koss laying on the floor.

V'Shele laughed a little. "No. No harm done. He didn't pull it off and our prisoner seems no worse for wear." Then she walked over to the cage, getting close to it and glaring at Trip as he stared her down, still seething with anger. "It was still a good show, however. I was thoroughly entertained."

"You sent him in here after me didn't you!" Trip fumed through the bars of the cage. "You knew what he was gonna try to do to me, and you let him in here for your _entertainment_?"

"He wanted to put it to you like you put it to the woman you stole from him. I thought that was funny as hell!"

"Funny!" Trip said outraged. "That asshole tried to rape me and you thought it was _funny?_ "

"Hilarious! Damn, that would have been something to see! But Koss didn't know about your new-found strength and I didn't tell him. I just wanted to see if he could do it! We had a bet – which he lost."

"Go to West Hell, you stark raving lunatic!" Trip said in utter disgust. "And take your sick, twisted bet with you!"

"Mmmmm," V'Shele said reaching her hand out to touch Trip's bare sweaty chest. He recoiled, jumping back from the bars.

"I'm beginning to see why people want you, Tucker," she said. "I mean, I always knew you were a bastard, but a brilliant bastard, full of fire and quite a looker. Now I see that you're chiseled and cut, and you pack a hell of a punch too. If I didn't hate your ass so much, I'd fuck you myself!"

"I wouldn't fuck you with _his_ dick," Trip snarled, gesturing at Koss as Apollo dragged him from the room.

V'Shele just laughed. "Awww, you're still pissed at our little game," she said pouting. "Perhaps another time then, hey _bitch_!"

"Not even if I was dead and already in hell, _bitch_!" he sneered.

She laughed again, then turned and left.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen:** _ **Replicate**_

The women met with the 'friend of a friend of a friend' of a former SI officer. The young man had given them all the information SI had about the kidnapping of four Starfleet officers, including an Admiral, and that was huge. It seemed their ship had been attacked by Osarian marauders, hired to do so. Apparently, the men were taken to a space station near a deserted planet known as Capella Prime. But the trail had ended there.

T'Pol and her team were encouraged, but very wary. Why would someone kidnap the men and take them to some remote outpost near a radiation-riddled, deserted planet? Only one person that they were aware of knew about Capella Prime, and she was dead. Nevertheless, the team headed for the small planet with all its hidden dangers.

Hoshi had a lot of anxiety about returning to the place that had proven to be where one of her greatest nightmares had unfolded. But she'd gathered herself together and insisted on being part of the away team.

They had detected only seven bio-signs on the tropical side of the planet, inside the compound where she had been held prisoner, so long ago. But for her, it seemed as fresh as ever.

When the team confronted the seven individuals left behind almost two years ago, they told them of the sister planet Capella Prime II and that V'Shele had known about it as well. That it had dangerous indigenous creatures, but that it was not nearly as dangerous as this planet. That it had once been the site of a intergalactic prison colony. In the end, T'Pol learned that the small band of survivors had been V'Shele's prisoners and that after the last confrontation, they had been left there to die.

Perceiving that they were not a threat, T'Pol brought them along, to help explore the mysterious Capella Prime II.

Upon arrival at Capella Prime II, T'Pol, Erika, Hoshi and the weapons experts Jackson and Wesley set out to find the kidnapped officers.

=/\=

The away team trekked through the forest, keenly aware of the dangers it presented but determined to reach the compound before nightfall. After travelling all day, they determined that they were at least a half a days journey to their destination. They decided that it was best to camp in a cave nearby and try to figure how to get onto the grounds and inside the compound at first light.

They broke into the compound and set out to find the men. It wasn't long before they encountered none other than Captain Malcolm Reed himself.

"Malcolm!" Hoshi shouted and ran toward her husband. He was dressed in black fatigues and boots and looked really pale; his hair was disheveled and his eyes looked glazed. As soon as Hoshi threw her arms around him, he made an odd sound and she was immediately tossed to the ground as if she had been shocked.

She screamed as she hit the floor. T'Pol hurried over to assist her as Erika stepped closer to their colleague.

"Malcolm! What the hell!" she said. "What just happened?"

But he didn't answer. He just cocked his head and looked at the woman in front of him.

"Malcolm? Captain Reed?" she asked.

"Are you alright?" T'Pol asked Hoshi as she helped her from the floor.

"I- I think so," the stunned woman gasped. She was rubbing her arms as if in pain. Then she looked at her husband and started toward him again. "Malcolm, what was that?" she asked miserably. "What have they done to you?"

"M-ma…Ma…com," he stammered hoarsely.

"Wait a minute," Erika said holding Hoshi back with her arm. "Something's not right."

With that T'Pol whipped out a scanner and ran a quick check.

"This is not Captain Reed," she replied.

Wesley and Jackson quickly took out their weapons and held them at the man standing before them.

"You want us to take him out?" Wesley asked.

"No!" Hoshi shouted. "Don't hurt him!"

"This is not your husband, lieutenant," T'Pol replied.

"Then who is he?" the frustrated woman demanded in return.

"The more accurate question would be, ' _what_ is it?'" the Vulcan answered.

"What do you mean, T'Pol?" Erika asked, still holding Hoshi back.

"Must be a clone," Jackson suggested.

Suddenly, Hoshi broke free from Erika's grip and rushed toward the man again. This time he seemed startled and let out a loud screeching sound. He immediately grabbed Hoshi and held her face. Some type of electrical charge seemed to burst from his hands as she screamed and struck him hard across the mouth and then used her elbows to dislodge his grip from her face.

Wesley then fired a shot at him, hurling him backwards; he hit the floor, unconscious. T'Pol and Erika ran toward him and began examining him.

"You _sure_ this isn't Captain Reed?" Erika asked as T'Pol ran her scanner over the unconscious individual again.

"Whatever this is, it is not human," the Vulcan replied. "These readings do not reflect human bio-signs."

"What the hell is he then?" Hoshi shouted, holding her red, blistered face that had started to swell.

"Oh man," Jackson replied as he tried to comfort the linguist. "The markings on your face look really familiar."

"Yeah," Wesley interjected. "You look like, like you've been stung! Jack! What the hell!"

"Can't be," he replied to his brother.

"You gentlemen want to share?" Erika said impatiently.

"They are referring to the markings left by creatures we encountered on Capella Prime over two years ago. They were called kai-yas."

"But, but, they were like these blobs, crystal-like blobs with these tentacles!" Wesley exclaimed. "They stung the hell out of me, I almost died!"

"If this is one of the creatures you're talking about," Erika began, "why does he look like Captain Reed?"

"Damn!" Wesley shouted as everyone turned and looked at the man who had started to regain consciousness, and was turning dark as he writhed around on the floor.

"What's happening to him!" Hoshi cried out, moving closer to him; she obviously couldn't let go of the hope that he might be her husband after all.

"Don't," T'Pol said, and grabbed her by the arm. "He's dying."

The creature screeched loudly, then right before their eyes, withered up into a pile of what looked like ashes.

The group stood there staring a moment. "It was just set on stun," Wesley finally said weakly.

"Apparently, the stun was too much for the creature." She then placed her scanner back on her belt and stood straight. "We should proceed."

Slowly, they moved on through the corridor of what seemed like a completely deserted building, phase weapons drawn. Wesley kept looking over at Hoshi to see if she was okay. If she was in the kind of pain he knew she had to be in, she didn't let it show.

"Any bio-signs?" Erika asked.

"No," T'Pol replied as she read the scanner. "Perhaps we should…"

But suddenly they came into contact with four more lookalikes who came barreling around the corner; somehow their bio-signs must have been hidden from the scanner. They immediately attacked the away team, hurling Wesley and Erika to the floor.

'Trip' attacked Erika, whose phase pistol flew out of her hand, and for a moment they engaged in a wrestling match on the floor as he electrocuted her with every other touch. Erika screamed but continued to try and fight off her attacker.

Another Malcolm had pounced on Jackson, but he had managed to hold onto his weapon. He immediately stunned the lookalike. Jackson then turned his weapon toward what appeared to be the woman known as Gannet Brooks, who was busy trying to get a grip on Hoshi, who wasn't about to be fooled again. She didn't know if this was Gannet or not, but the woman had attacked her and she was fighting back. Jackson shot the imposter and she fell to the floor as T'Pol struggled with what looked like her former husband, Koss.

Wesley had been rendered temporarily unconscious and was just coming to when he realized T'Pol was in trouble. He quickly looked around for his weapon, scrambled for it, then fired it at the big Vulcan. He let out a screeching sound and fell to the floor.

The team tried to re-group, but couldn't ignore the pain of the burns from having been stung up by these creatures.

"There're just like those goddamned kai-yas I tell you!" Jackson winced as he held his swelling hand.

"Maybe we should get back to the ship and get treated for these stings," Erika suggested. "And maybe we should have worn some protective gear."

"We had no way of knowing we would be encountering anything of this nature," T'Pol replied as she held her throat, already beginning to sound hoarse.

"You…alright…Commander?" Hoshi gasped.

"No, she's not," Wesley quickly replied. "She was stung in the neck, she's gonna need treatment like now!"

"He's right," Jackson agreed. "These stings hurt like hell and cause grotesque swelling and temporary paralysis. It goes away after a few hours. But if it's in the throat or chest, or heart…"

"Then they're deadly!" Wesley interrupted.

"Mr. Smith is correct," T'Pol rasped. "And anyone stung in the arm, will not be able to use it soon. We should go."

"Hey," Erika said touching her left eye. "My eye feels really funny." Little did she know, it was already red and starting to bulge.

T'Pol whipped out her communicator, but suddenly could not speak. Hoshi grabbed it with her left hand as her right one was already double its normal size, and placed it close to her red, puffy face. "Five to beam up," she said to the comm officer.

Suddenly, another Trip, a Koss and what looked like two Admiral Archers this time, and if they weren't mistaken, a Kaitaama, came running at the team, screeching and ready to attack with their horrible stings. But before they could, the rescue team disappeared in a haze of light.

=/\=

Later.

Phlox and Cutler treated their colleagues in sick bay of Excalibur as Erika tried to make sense of what had happened to them. T'Pol was still unable to speak. Erika had summoned two of the seven aliens they had rescued on Capella Prime. They explained about the giant kay-yas, how they could take the form of some species, and that they were not sentient, only living a few days.

Meeting the replicas of their friends, husbands, and colleagues had been unsettling. T'Pol was even more perplexed about her encounter with Koss' duplicate. What was he doing here and what did he have to do with the disappearance of Trip and the other men? She wondered if they were even still alive.

=/\=

Back at the Compound.

Gannett screamed as she was whipped across the back by V'Shelle's stooge. How she'd been exposed, she didn't know. But she was now a prisoner. She was a trained operative and refused to talk, so she was being systematically tortured as the other women looked on from the large viewing window on the other side of the room.

Rajiin wanted to scream with Gannet every time she cried out, but remained stoic; the last thing they needed was for her cover to be blown too. She had thought that perhaps she should have revealed herself to help her friend, that she could take the torture, but she knew if Gannet stood a chance, she and Dr. Yuris had to continue to play along.

=/\=

In Another Building on the Grounds.

"Hey! Hey!" Trip screamed at a man in a blue uniform. "I know you hear me, you idiot! I know you hear me!

"I'm gonna break someone's goddamned neck when I get out of here!

"Hey! Listen to me! _Open this friggin' door!"_ Someone had locked him away and he didn't know why. All he knew was that his head hurt violently. Maybe that's why he couldn't remember anything. He had woken up a short time ago and realized that he didn't know where he was, what he was doing there, or how he'd come to be there. He had _really_ become frightened when he realized he couldn't remember his own name.

He had managed to rip a chair up, which was bolted to the floor with some type of mechanism; he couldn't figure out how it worked. So had just grabbed the chair by its metal leg and pulled it loose with strength he couldn't explain he had. Maybe this was the reason he was locked up.

He had made such a fuss that several people wearing blue uniforms had finally come running. He'd struggled with them and finally been injected with something that made him go limp.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" he screamed as they partly released him and he clapped a hand to his neck. "Where am I? Who are you fuckin' people and why are you tryin' to kill me?"

"We are not trying to kill you," the young woman said. "We are trying to help you." The men then lifted him up and carried him over to the bed, and although he still tried to resist, whatever was in that hypo had caused him to already feel the effects of it as he was too woozy to shake them off. They then fastened restraints to his wrists and ankles.

"Why are you doing this?" he yelled frantically. "What is this place and why am I here? This…this is a _crazy house_ , isn't it! What am I doing here? I – I wanna talk to somebody in authority! If this is some kinda hospital I wanna talk to a doctor or an administrator or somebody!"

"Certainly," the young woman replied. "I will have to summons your wife first, however. She will want to be consulted."

"My _wife_?" he asked, staring wide-eyed at the young woman.

"What do you remember today?" the woman asked. "I am your personal nurse and care-giver, Drakely. Do you remember me today sir?"

When the patient did not answer, but just stared at her, she went on, "Do you know who you are?"

He closed his eyes for a second. He didn't even know that much. "Just … just get the damned doctor!" he yelled out of frustration.

"Right away, Your Majesty," the woman stated, and then bowed slightly. The men followed suit.

"Who – just who the hell am I…and why are you referring to me as royalty?" he demanded to know.

"Your Majesty, unfortunately you have been quite ill for some time, requiring your hospitalization off-world due to a unique set of circumstances. Your mind is rather impaired, and your wife had you brought to this fine facility for treatment.

"As to who you are, you are Sir Charles the Third, Prince Consort of Her Majesty Kaitaama, First Monarch of Krios Prime."

=/\=

Kaitamma and Dr. Yuris viewed the incident from the tape the Nurse had given her. "Just how long is he going to be like this?" she sneered at the doctor.

"Your Grace," the Vulcan began, "there is no way to be certain. This could well be a temporary condition. There is simply no way to be sure."

"He doesn't know who I am!" she shouted. "He doesn't even know who _he_ is! I thought you said this new strand was not going to harm him!""

"If you will recall madam, what I intimated was that the creatures would not cause the subjects to become aggressive and violent as they did before. As I warned, memory loss was a potential side effect. That, coupled with the fact that I was forced to administer the final treatment before it was time, has no doubt affected Captain Tucker's memory."

"Well how can he love me if he doesn't even know who I am?" Kaitaama whined. "Put him back the way he was you crock, now!"

"I assure you, I cannot," the doctor replied blandly. "However, as I have shared with the Mistress and with Ms. Rajinn, I believe it is possible to re-program his mind. It is as a blank slate right now. Therefore, shape it to your liking. Continue to plant the memories you want him to access, then you can simply fill in the blanks as you desire."

"Yeah well, that shit better work!" Kaitaama said as she rolled her eyes at Dr. Yuris before she turned to exit the room.

"We'll see," she snapped, looking over her shoulder. "We'll see!" Then she left in a huff."

=/\=

V'Shele sat across from her _patient_.

"Why do you bother coming here every day?" Number One said to the doctor. "I'm obviously a lost cause."

"I don't believe that," the petite doctor with the glasses and the long, red pony-tail replied. "The mind is very powerful. If it can be broken, as yours has been, it can be repaired. I won't stop until yours is."

Number One laughed a bit at that. His doctor, _Allison Wells,_ had been so kind to him, why he didn't know. She had said that he was a fascinating subject and a challenge. She had had him moved from the criminal ward to the plush ward where the elite patients resided. There she had visited him, every day, at least three times.

She had told him that if she could restore his mind, his skills, could buy him a ticket off this rock and into the Romulan fleet, to help her people reclaim the world stolen from them by the Vulcans, and that she was determined to make that happen. He knew that he was human and likely from the planet Earth, but he had no idea how he had come to be out in space. Dr. Wells had promised to help him figure all that out, if he cooperated with the treatment she had prescribed for him.

He had been grateful that she took enough interest in him to try and help him. He had even worked out that she was maybe even attracted to him. But, something wasn't right and he knew it. Nevertheless, being on a less restricted unit meant he was presented with clean clothing, a soft bed, good food and other opportunities. Therefore, he had decided to play along.

"So we will continue our work then," the doctor said. "Will you allow me to restore your mind?"

"Of course," Malcolm replied with a wry smile as he sat across from the very attractive psychiatrist. "I'm indebted to you."

Then she rose up and walked over to him facing him where he sat. She stared down at him as he gazed up at her. "Really?" she said, with her hands on her hips.

Malcolm looked at her shapely body, perfectly accented by the short, tight black skirt she wore, the red Triaxian-silk blouse along with the sexy high-heeled shoes. "You got me out of that hell hole," he replied. "I'd do anything for you."

"Then you know what I want," she whispered and bent down and kissed him. He slowly unzipped the trousers he was wearing, revealing what he knew she was referring to. He then raised her skirt over her hips, under which she wore no underwear, and pulled her down on top of him.

7


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen:** _ **Incertitude**_

The Next Day _._

 _Late That Evening. Sick Bay, Excalibur._

T'Pol who was able to speak again, had called a meeting in sick bay in order to plan their next strategy for rescuing the men. But her throat hurt badly and she still sounded raspy as if she had a bad cold or laryngitis. Two of the women who had been among the group of people T'Pol rescued on Capella Prime had asked to be a part of the team. They were known as Serena and Nyla and were of a species known as Trills. They had been kidnapped by V'Shele seven years ago and enslaved to her on the radiation riddled Capella Prime. They had been left to die there when the Romulan's hide-out had been discovered by the Starfleet officers two years ago.

"We must go down to the planet surface again," T'Pol said, trying to raise her voice as much as possible. "We have to get back into that compound."

"And now that we know what we're dealing with," Erika interjected, "we'll be better prepared."

"How do we prepare for something like that?" Hoshi asked. "I mean, seeing those replicates…I don't think I could have ever been ready for that."

"We can offer a salve that will help to protect against the stings of the kai-yas," Serena interjected.

"Now you tell us," Erika said sarcastically.

"How do we know it is safe for our use?" T'Pol rasped.

"I have analyzed the substance thoroughly," Phlox called out from across the room. "it is quite safe."

"Yeah but what else is down there?" Liz asked, then hung her head for a second. "It just bothers me that no one saw a Travis look-a-like? No sign of him whatsoever? What does that mean?"

"It simply means we did not see a replica of him," T'Pol replied, "nothing more. But I have to inform everyone that the doctor has advised that Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson will not be able to rejoin the team on the ground."

"What? Why not?" Erika frowned. "We need someone who can handle themselves with weapons."

"That may be the case," Phlox said joining the meeting. "But it won't be these young men. The creature that attacked Wesley left the stinger in his hand and it is still swollen and infected. The treatment is dissolving the stinger, but it will take a few more hours. And Jackson has had an allergic reaction to the treatment. He is very ill right now. Therefore, neither will be joining the away team."

"Then we will need someone to take their places," T'Pol suggested. Our mission has a better chance of success if trained operatives or someone proficient in handling various weaponry accompanies us."

"We will be of great use to you," Serena spoke up. "Nyla and I are well trained in hand to hand combat."

"Yes, we are excellent in the art of fencing as well," Nyla added.

"That's all well and good," Erika said. "But things have changed a bit, ladies since you were stranded out there on that planet these last seven years. A little thing called technology. So, bringing a knife to a gun fight's gonna hardly be helpful."

"Captain Hernandez," T'Pol said, holding her hand up. "We will accept all the assistance we can get. Thank you Nyla," she said turning to the Trill.

"What about Kov?" Hoshi then interjected. "He's Vulcan strong, he's been in space a long time and Trip said he could handle himself at hand to hand combat if needed."

"Kov has other pressing responsibilities," T'Pol replied. "I need him on the ship when I am not present."

"What about the engineers? There's four of them and three more guys in the armory," Erika asked. Could one of them help us out?"

"If the ship were to be discovered and required to engage in a battle, it would need all of its engineers to maintain the engines," T'Pol explained. "The armory would likewise need all of its staff in order to be fully functional. However, since the ship is presently sufficiently cloaked and its chances of being discovered are slim, perhaps it can spare at least two staff members. I will speak to Ensign Howard and Lieutenant Brinson," She was referring to the Andorian Armory officer and the Coridian Engineer.

"What about me?" Liz asked, having been silently listening to the exchange.

"Dr. Cutler, I thought I made it clear that your services were better served on the ship," the Vulcan replied. "You lack sufficient training in these matters. The risk is too great."

"That was before the Ringling brothers got hurt," the young doctor replied. "You're taking an engineer and an armory officer that has no more training that I have at this black ops shit!"

"Liz!" Hoshi warned.

"Oh sorry!" she said quickly. She took a breath, then forged on. "Commander, I'm sorry, I mean no disrespect," she said directing her apology to T'Pol. "It's just that I'm frustrated; frustrated and worried and getting no answers… Ma'am. I know you don't think so, but I can be an asset on the ground. I've clocked a lot of hours on the firing range with a pistol as well as a rifle. And in the last few days Jackson showed me how to use some of his equipment. Hoshi's been working with me on Aikido and I've gotten pretty good."

T'Pol only sat listening, not speaking.

"Besides," Liz went on with a hint of sadness in her voice. "I have just as much to lose as any of you. I've come this far, I won't back down now. I realize that I'd be putting my life on the line, but if I didn't know that I wouldn't have come in the first place. I have a right to know if Travis is dead or alive; if I'm going to be walking down an aisle at some point in the near future or not. Considering, I think the risk is acceptable."

T'Pol and Erika looked at one another. Then T'Pol rose up and faced Liz. "Prepare to join the away team, Dr. Cutler," she finally said.

Erika put her hand to her forehead and Phlox shook his head as Cutler bounded out of the room to get ready.

=/\=

Prince Charles lay on the large bed in his room, considerably calmer today. He had had a meltdown a couple of days ago. He had awoken, confused and angry when he had realized he had no idea where he was, that he was locked up and that he couldn't even remember his own name. He was calm because he had been given "the treatment." Whatever that was.

Sure he was calm, but he felt lifeless, and sad, very, very sad. As if something very dear and precious had been taken away from him and he didn't know why. They had brought him dinner last night but he didn't feel like eating, breakfast this morning, and he hadn't touched it. Then lunch today and still no appetite.

His wife, the First Monarch, Kaitaama, had been in to see him several times and tried to cheer him up, but it was useless. She had brought Dr. Yuris in to check him and he was greatly concerned that the prince was falling into a depression. But all he wanted was to remember, and that just wasn't happening. Nothing seemed to fit. Nothing they told him seemed to feel right and that disturbed him deeply. So, he lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to think…but there was nothing there, he was a blank…he was lost to himself…then a single tear rolled down his cheek.

=/\=

Excalibur.

T'Pol lay on her bunk that night, tossing and turning, unable to rest. She anticipated going back down to the planet the next day desperately wanting to find Trip. She thought about the replicates that she and the away team had been forced to kill and it had been disturbing to say the least. If only she could be sure he was still alive. If only she could connect with him. She began to reach out almost without thinking about it, searching, hoping against hope for something, anything. Then, suddenly something happened, a sensation in her mind.

When Trip was first infected with the parasites several years ago affected and they had not been able to sense one another nor communicate mind to mind for weeks. She had not been able to communicate with Trip sense he had gone missing three weeks ago, but now she could have sworn she could sense him.

" _Trip?"_ she said in her mind.

" _Trip?_ His voice said. _"Who is Trip? Who is this? I must be dreaming. That's it, I'm dreaming. Then again, I am in a mental hospital and everybody keeps telling me I'm crazy. So, why wouldn't I be hearing a voice in my head."_

" _Trip! It is you! You're not hearing voices adun, it is I, T'Pol, your aduna, we are T'hyla."_

" _T'Pol? Aduna? "T'hyla?"_ he repeated. He was very confused. _"I-I don't know what any of that means!"_

" _Try to remember Trip. You are a Starfleet Captain. You are from planet Earth. I am Vulcan. We are married."_

" _Married! I-I'm married to Kaitaama! They told me my wife was Kaitaama, the First Monarch of Krios Prime! And I'm called Prince Charles."_

" _It Is a Lie!" she screamed!_

" _I AM YOUR WIFE! I swear it!"_

Then suddenly he was flooded with images:

They were sitting in the mess hall of Enterprise, alone, late one night. He was holding a forkful of pecan pie at her lips.

" _Try it," he coaxed her. "Come on, just a bite._

" _No," she said. "it's mostly sugar. It is not good for one's health."_

" _I know, but it's good for the soul._

" _No. Vulcan's do not indulge in sugary sweets."_

" _Aw c'mon, for me. You might just like it. You'll never know if you don't try it."_

 _She hesitated. Then she allowed him to put the fork into her mouth. It was wonderful. However, her expression never changed._

" _Well?" he asked with a grin._

" _It was…agreeable."_

 _Trip just smiled. "Uh huh," he said. "Agreeable". But he knew she loved it._

=/\=

Then there was a time when they were having an argument about Trip not taking proper care of himself.

" _I am in the best shape of my entire life, better than I was when I was twenty-five years old!" Trip said, throwing up his hands._

" _I am sure that is an exaggeration," T'Pol replied. "After the fleet is completed, you will assume command of one of the warp seven vessels and I will have to threaten you with bodily harm to get you to take care of yourself."_

" _That's not true," Trip said. "I take care of myself, a whole hell of a lot better than I used to anyway. What with you tryna turn me into a vegan and working me out on a regular."_

" _You have never complained about my work-out methods before," T'Pol said. "Actually, I was thinking of working you out in just a few minutes. I have been reading the collective works of a 20_ _th_ _century Earth author, Jaqueline Suzanne. I wanted to try out some of the work-out methods described in her books." Trip laughed at that._

" _T'Pol you are a bad girl, you know that?"_

" _The badder, the better," she replied._

" _And now you're using incorrect English too! What am I going to do with you?"_

" _I could make a few suggestions," she said, then jumped on top of him._

" _Whoa!" Trip yelled. "Darlin' you're gonna hurt me if you keep doing that without any warning."_

" _Captain Tucker," she replied, "I haven't begun to hurt you!" Then she kissed him aggressively._

" _Well, let the hurtin' begin," he said when they finally came up for air._

=/\=

"T'Pol?" he said. "T'Pol!"

" _Yes," she replied desperately. "Trip, tell me where you are and I will come and get you!"_

But suddenly, a searing pain hit her in the head, so much so it blinded her for a few moments and she could not speak or move. And just like that, the link was broken.

On Trip's end however, he screamed and screamed so loudly that the guards finally came running. He had fallen out of bed and was rolling on the floor. Blood was coming out of his ears and nose and he was holding his head unable to regain his composure. They finally had to call for Dr. Yuris.

T'Pol had no way of knowing that her link had caused such pain and damage, all she knew was Trip was alive and it given her hope.

=/\=

Number One was sleeping and having one of those lovely star ship dreams as he called them, and it was an intense dream. He could see her as plain as day. The beautiful Asian-American woman with the long dark hair. On this occasion, they had apparently had a fight and was about to make up. It went like this:

" _Malcolm," she said. He turned to face her. "I've…missed you."_

" _I've missed you too," he replied, looking into her eyes. Then there was silence. It was as if they didn't know what to do. She dropped his hand, and he turned to go. He walked slowly toward the door and reached for the opener…but he didn't press it, his hand just hovered above it for a few moments. He could feel her staring at his back, just standing there staring and not saying anything. Then he turned and walked back toward her quickly. He grabbed her and kissed her. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back._

 _They kissed deeply, hungrily, over and over again. It was as if they were starving for one another. They just couldn't stop devouring one another. And that warmth Hoshi had felt course through her body a few minutes ago when he touched her a few second ago, well, it had turned to fire!_

" _I love you," he said to her when they finally came up for air. "I have been in love with you for a long, long time and I never told you because I was scared. I was stupid and scared. I was an idiot and so afraid of, of, everything; the implications of love, what it meant emotionally, of commitment, of breaking the damned rules, what it meant for our careers. But I don't care about any of that now Hoshi. All I care about is you and you knowing how I feel about you!"_

" _Oh my God Malcolm!" Hoshi said as her eyes filled with tears. "I have waited so long to hear you say that. I've waited so long… I love you too, I do…I love you! I didn't want to love you anymore, and I tried to get over you, I did, but I couldn't. I couldn't! And I hated myself for loving you, but I still do! I still love you, I still love you!"_

 _With that he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Their clothes seemed to find their way to the floor on their own as they continued to devour one another's mouth, touching and caressing one another. Soon their flesh merged into one, and they rocked it with a wild animal-like passion, no time for soft and sweet. It had been a long time for them, so it seemed like the first time. But it wasn't like an awkward, strange first time, because they had a rhythm which only took a few minutes for them to find again, and soon they were in sync, in perfect harmony._

But then the image changed.

 _Malcolm looked at the woman in the bed. He felt her forehead. She was burning up with fever, yet her body shook with cold. He pulled the blankets up around her closer and tucked them under her neck. She had been practically delirious when he had brought her there, and quite near death._

 _He rubbed his hands together, then blew on them. It was cold as hell in that blasted cabin. He got up from the edge of the bed where his patient lay and walked over to the window. He pulled back the shade and looked out. He watched the snow pummel the already white covered hillside. He was concerned that they would be snowed in and that their rations would run out long before they could dig themselves out. Their shuttle craft had crash landed three days ago and he had tracked on foot, him dragging her behind him on a makeshift sled for almost three hours until he found shelter on this god-forsaken planet, an abandoned hunting-type lodge with no electricity. Malcolm sighed deeply._

" _How the hell am I going to get us out of here," he whispered to himself. Then suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching, but she was so ill just seconds ago. Perhaps she'd found the will to finally try and get out of bed. But when he turned to meet her eyes, he was startled by something cold and sharp tearing into his flesh._

" _What- what the hell h-have you done!" he said as he grabbed his right side. He then looked at his hand and it was covered with blood. He felt the pain but tried to immediately disconnect from it. But the blood was flowing rapidly._

 _He grabbed her as she tried to stab him again and they struggled with the broken blade. Where she had gotten it from or when she had gotten it, he didn't know. He wrestled it away from her as she was too weak to put up a real fight and tossed it across the room._

" _You silly little fool!" he said as he started to stumble, trying desperately not to pass out. "You've probably just sealed both of our deaths. I was our only hope of survival!"_

" _Good!" She spat at him. "I told you…to let me die… Now you can die with me! I told you if I got the chance I would kill you! You should have listened!" she said as she stumbled backwards._

 _He grabbed her as she started to fall and looked her in her eyes, both of them tumbling to the floor together. The last thing he saw was her red hair and her sinister smile as darkness claimed both of them._

Malcolm jumped! He woke up trembling, cold, and frightened. Moreover, he could smell the smells surrounding that event and seemingly feel the pain of having been stabbed by that blade! He suddenly grabbed his side and looked at his hand expecting to see blood, but there was none. Nevertheless, he _had_ felt that stabbing pain in his side. _How was that possible!_

He looked around. He was in the room at the hospital that he had gone to sleep in. He had had a dream, a nice pleasant, dream earlier, that seemed all too real. It seemed more like…a memory. He could have sworn he had lived that moment.

Then he had had a nightmare, a horrible nightmare, and it had seemed all too real too! It seemed even more like… _a memory_! And what was Dr. Allison Wells doing in his very, terrible, all too real and horrible, nightmare!

"What in bloody hell is going on?" he whispered to himself in the dark.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

 **The Next Day.**

Trip and the man he had chased down and briefly sparred with, stood facing each other. They'd been circling around as if the fight could resume any moment.

"Well?" Trip finally said incredulously. What was the guy waiting for?

"Well _what?_ " replied the other, apparently equally irritated. His voice was English, and sounded strangely familiar.

"What the hell are you waiting for – attack me!"

"You've got to attack _me_!" the Brit retorted.

Trip thought for a few seconds, then slowly relaxed and lowered his hands, coming out of his fight stance.

The not-stranger looked at him. "What in bloody hell are you doing?" he finally said. "Aren't we going to finish what we started?"

"For some reason, I don't wanna fight you," Trip replied.

"Why not?"

"Hell if I know," Trip said in turn.

"Good choice." A smirk, which also looked oddly familiar. "I happen to have a reputation, you know."

"I'll bet you do," Trip said. "You handle yourself well. I'm bigger and stronger than you, but you seem to know my technique, what my next move would be."

"I wasn't about to let you hit me. I knew if you hit me, you were going to hurt me with your superior stren…" Then he stopped and came out of his combat stance.

"You knew? About my strength, I mean?" Trip asked anxiously.

The Brit hesitated. "Yes, it seems I did. As soon as I saw you, I somehow knew if I took a hit from you it would not be a favorable outcome for me and for that reason I couldn't allow you to get the upper hand."

"How the hell did you know that?" Trip asked, his voice rising. "Who are you anyway?"

Another, longer hesitation. "I-I don't really remember who I am. I've had some memory loss…And you?"

"I'm…royalty," the taller man said, trying to sound superior. "Prince Charles, the third."

With that the Brit burst into laughter for a few moments.

"What's so damned funny?" Trip snapped. "Don't I seem like royalty?"

"No, not really."

Trip looked down and placed his hands on his hips. "Oh, well… don't really feel like it either. You think you know me, don't you?"

"Yes. But I don't know why."

"You busted out of your unit, didn't you? You're looking for something, some clues or… or something. You don't think you belong here."

"How did you know that?"

"You got a bad headache too, don't ya? You get these bad, blinding, debilitating headaches, right? When you try to or think you're remembering something?"

"It's like you're reading my mind. Are you gifted psionically?"

"No. I'm just getting' these… strong sensations from you. Seems I'm sensing what you're feeling maybe, or it's like there's some kind of connection between us. I don't know, I can't explain it."

"Look mate," the Englishman sighed, "I don't know who you are, I don't even know who I am. But, I know I'm not supposed to be here. Something's wrong and I intend to find out what it is."

Trip stood up straight. "I feel the exact same way! But, every time I tell somebody, they tell me I'm sick and pump me with more of their drugs!"

"That's why you can't tell anyone what you're thinking or what your plan is. You play along, watch and observe. Look for weak links in their chain and gather information. Then start piecing the information together."

Trip nodded, and seemed to quote. "Fade into the background as much as possible. You never let 'em know what your strengths are so you can keep the upper hand. Defend yourself if and when you have to, but don't show 'em your trump card."

"That's it, mate!" His companion grinned triumphantly. "'The survivor's creed'!"

"Well, you taught me wel…" Trip found himself saying automatically. "I _do_ know you!" He said. "Somehow, I know you!"

"All right, listen. I need to get back to my unit before they notice I'm missing. You should go too. But let's plan to meet again tomorrow, same time, same place. Try to think, maybe something will come to us overnight. Perhaps if we work together, we can figure this out."

"Ok, I'm in," Trip said. "I mean, whadda I have to lose?"

With that, they turned and walked off in different directions, as though nothing important had happened at all.

=/\=

That Same Day.

Admiral!" the young woman cried out. "You're alive, you're okay!"

"What?" he frowned, "who are you?"

"You know who I am!"

"That's quite enough," Regina said, attempting to pull the woman off of her husband. "Get your hands off of him! Orderly! Orderly!"

"Admiral Archer! Jonathan!" the desperate woman cried out. "Listen to me!"

With that two men and another nurse came running. "What is she doing on this unit?" Regina demanded to know. "How did she get out?"

"Wait a minute!" the CEO said. "Who is this? How does she know me?"

"You know who I am Jonathan!" she cried out as she struggled against the orderlies. "Remember! Remember me! Remember who _you_ are! Don't believe them, they're all lying to you! You are not Jefferson Adams! Your name is Jonathan Archer! You are Admiral Jonathan Archer of Star..."

"Get her out of here!" Regina shouted, interrupting her.

"What is she talking about?" Jefferson demanded of his wife taking her by the shoulders. "What was that woman talking about!"

"Jeffery, my love," she started with a look of sadness on her face. "She's delusional, sick, … and unfortunately … so, so are you."

=/\=

 _Later._

Those had been the events earlier that morning. Dr. Adams, considerably calmer now, paced backward and forward in the room where he had received the treatment. It always brought on horrible headaches. But, so did the dreams and visions he'd had since he could remember – but his memory was sketchy.

He was a powerful figure on Capella Prime II, or so he'd been told. Sure, he had been shown news reels of himself and PADDS where he saw himself sitting in board meetings, and at Interstellar conferences advocating for health care and prison reform in this area of space. He could see himself speaking to the villagers about their loved ones housed at the massive hospital/prison, and his efforts to bring some moral and ethical code in the way it was run. He was so popular that many believed he could effectively run for Head of State on this small world, and win. Trouble was, he couldn't remember doing any of those things.

He continued to feel as if something was wrong with his life. That he'd had dreams and visions about another life. He had struggled with what all this meant. Now a woman, a patient, had approached him and confirmed things that he had seen in his dreams. She even seemed familiar, looked familiar. Did he really know her? Why couldn't he remember?

Suddenly, someone was at the door. He ran and sat calmly in the chair in the room beside the bed and picked up a PADD. When the door slid open, he looked up.

"Feeling better?" Regina asked as she approached him.

"Yes, thank you," he replied with a small smile.

"I'm so glad," she replied, rubbing her hand over his hair, smoothing it back. "You had me worried for a moment."

"I'm sorry, it's never my intention to cause you concern. Think I'll get some work done here in the office."

"You feel up to working?" she frowned.

"It helps to keep busy," he replied. "I'll only work a couple of hours, I promise."

"Well, now that's the great Dr. Adams I know and love," she said kissing him on the head. Then she smiled and turned to leave.

"See you later," he called after her. "I love you."

"See you later Jon," she said as she exited the door.

Regina had not caught it – what she'd called him that is. But he sure had.

=/\=

The Next Day.

Dr. Adams had accessed the hospital's files and gone over them several times looking for patients who had something unique about them. One would be the woman who had approached him the day before and called him, _Jonathan Archer – Admiral Jonathan Archer._ The other, a very wealthy and important patient, the consort of the First Monarch of Krios Prime. According to his file, he was an amnesiac and repeatedly stated that he believed that there was something wrong with his life. He did not believe that he was whom everyone said he was.

Later that day Dr. Adams found himself standing outside the door of the prince of Krios Prime. Watching the patient through the monitor on the wall, he felt drawn to him but he didn't know why. He put a code in the door and entered the room.

The patient was seated, or rather slumped, on the bed. He hardly bothered to glance up. His whole attitude was one of despair, his face expressionless except for the incision between the brows that indicated the presence of that constant, murderous headache.

"Prince Charles," Dr. Adams started, taking a seat in the chair opposite the bed.

"Please," the man before him said, holding up his hand. "Don't call me that. It's just… Charles …I guess."

"You don't know your name?"

"I know what they told me," the patient replied.

"I am Dr. Jefferson Adams. I'm the CEO of this facility," he said. "Do you know who I am?"

"Everybody knows who you are," the patient responded dully. "At least, knows your name. I'd never really been introduced to you, but…" then he stopped.

"What is it?"

"I – I'm not sure," he said, shaking his head, with a tired, troubled look in his eyes. "But, you have 'em too don't you?"

"Have what, Charles?" Jon asked, hoping to get some information.

"The headaches. The ones that hurt like hell when you try to think or remember something."

"Who are you, really?" Jon shifted forward, closer to the man, his face twisted with anxiety even as the familiar headache began to bite. "What are you doing here and why do you think you know what I'm feeling?"

"Look, doc!" The reply showed growing annoyance. "You came into my room, asking questions and demanding answers. I mean, you're supposed to be the big shot around here, right? So why don't _you_ tell _me_ what's going on?"

"You're the Prince Consort to the First Monarch of Krios Prime…"

The patient laughed a little at that, and got to his feet with a movement that spoke of frustration.

Jon looked up at him. "What's so funny?"

"I wasn't laughing, not really." He sighed heavily. "It's just that…I don't know her, Kaitaama I mean, _my wife._ "

"You've suffered memory loss, so that's understandable." Jon hesitated, closing his eyes and pinching his nose at the bridge. His ever-lingering headache was getting worse. There was something familiar about the sandy haired _prince_ standing before him. Even his voice – it was making his head hurt, because it sounded so familiar.

"Hey, you alright doc? You don't look so good." Then he stopped abruptly, placed his hand to his head and stumbled backwards. "We've done this before," he finally said. "A thousand times…I mean had thousands of conversations…we were together…on, on a ship or space station maybe."

Then they both grabbed their heads and grimaced with pain. It took a few minutes to clear up. "We know each other," Jon finally said. "And this is an elaborate ruse!"

"A ruse?"

"This isn't right. I know it, I always have. And I'm going to get to the bottom of it, right now!" Jon said angrily, as he leapt up abruptly, and turned to go.

"Wait! Don't tip your hand, at least not yet. I'm mean who're you gonna tell, your wife? You know you can't trust her."

"Jon hesitated a moment. "I – I don't know what I'm going to do."

"I'm willing to help you. Let me help." The patient spoke urgently.

"How can you help? You just told me you don't even know who you are!"

"Maybe not." A frown. "But I know one thing, if you confront anyone right now, you're gonna end up back in the treatment room and you know it!"

Jon sat back hard in the chair. Charles hurried over and pulled up the other chair in the room. "Listen, there's another guy I met yesterday. He's an amnesiac too and we were sure we'd met before or knew one another. Our connection was real strong, kinda like the connection I'm feeling with you."

Jon looked at the patient incredulously. "Connection?"

"Yes, connection. You feel it too, so don't try to deny it."

Jon did not respond immediately.

"Get me out of here."

"You know I can't do that."

"Can't or won't?"

"Look, you're a patient. I'm the CEO of this place and I have a duty to run this hospital properly and responsibly."

"Even with a messed up head you're talkin' about doin' things by the book! I told you a thousand times, sometimes things can't be accomplished doing things by the book! It's like that time I went against the rules and went after those Orion ships that attacked us!"

With that, they both fell to the floor in excruciating pain, writhing around and holding their heads. It took a few minutes before the pain subsided enough to allow the officers to regain their composure.

Charles crawled over to the bed and pulled himself up by the post. He sat hard on top of it. Jon sat up on the floor, then pulled himself to his knees and finally to a standing position.

"Did…did you… see that?" Trip gasped still holding his head.

"Yes," Jon replied. "I saw it. The two of us, standing in some kind of office, I think…on…"

"A ship!" Trip blurted out, and immediately bent over cradling his head with his forearms.

"Take it easy!" John demanded.

"But you saw it," Charles replied as he sat up slowly. "We were…arguing… about, about…"

"About what you said before," Jon replied. "What does it mean?"

"It means you're right. We don't belong here, either of us. We had a life before this – _Aaaauuughhh!_ " Charles yelled and fell to the floor again on all fours.

Jon hurried over to him. "Stop it!" he said to the agonized man. "Stop trying to remember. You're right, we don't belong here, and we're connected somehow." He then helped Charles up and helped him steady himself, battling to ignore his own suffering. "C'mom, he said. I'm getting you out of here."

"But, doc," Charles said, his face still contorted with pain. "This other guy. He's just like us. I'm supposed to be meetin' up with him in a little while. I think you should meet him."

Jon nodded. "Okay, but first, there's one more person I have to talk to." Then he gestured for his old friend to follow him.

They exited the room and started down the hallway. Jon grabbed Charles by the arm as if he were leading him somewhere. "If anyone says anything, just follow my lead," he said. The patient nodded.

They got on the elevator and went up four floors, then down a long corridor. Charles had told his new ally where he was to meet the 'other one' like them. This other guy didn't know his name either, but by his accent he was English.

'The other one' was obviously startled and dismayed when they showed up at the supply closet they'd met in last evening.

"What in bloody hell is he doing here?" the Brit spat. "I should have known I couldn't trust you!"

"Keep your shirt on, Shorty," Charles replied.

"'Shorty'!" he exclaimed, and looked as if he was about to pounce on the taller man. Though he was a bit on the short side, and was probably not best pleased by being reminded of it.

"Sorry, sorry, but I didn't quite catch your name last night. Now just hold your figgin' horses! This is Dr. Jefferson Adams."

"I know who he is," the other man snapped. "You've turned me in to the head honcho, have you?"

"No, man! He's like us. Can't remember anything past a few weeks ago. Doesn't know how he came to be here either, just what he's been told. But his gut is tellin' him something different. He's got the head thing too."

"You mean…"

"Yeah, he has the headaches, same as us," Trip said.

The Brit calmed down but looked at Jon up and down as he paced the small room back and forwards. "So now what?" he asked skeptically.

"We try to remember," Jon said. "But first there's someone else I need to speak to. Stay here." Then he quickly disappeared out of the door before either of the men could say anything. About ten minutes later he returned with a woman that seemed familiar to them but they couldn't identify her either.

"Trip! Malcolm!" Gannet said, reaching out toward them. They looked at her suspiciously, the pain in their heads starting to become more pronounced.

"Who are you?" Trip asked.

"I'm Gannet Brooks, I was Starfleet Intelligence for many years, code name Jet; then I became a Part of Section 31 under Rupert Harris; I've also worked as a part of the black ops unit Excalibur…

All of a sudden the men were doubling over and covering their ears with pain. Trip's ears had even stared to bleed.

"I'm sorry!" Gannet said. "Oh my God, I'm sorry!"

"You …you know...us…too!" Trip stammered.

"Yes, of course," she replied. "They're lying to you. But listen. You're all infected with parasites. That's why you can't remember who you are, that's why it hurts when you try to remember. I've got to get you out of here. I've got to find Dr. Yuris."

"Dr. Yuris," Jon said with a grimace.

"Don't speak," Gannet said, "and don't try to remember. Just be quiet and follow me."

Malcolm looked at her with a frown, and then looked at Trip. Whoever he was, he was a very suspicious guy, but what choice did any of them have?

"Please trust me," she said. Then they quietly slipped out of the room.

They hurried along the corridor to the infirmary in search of Dr. Yuris.

=/\=

 _A Few Minutes Later._

"This is highly irregular," the Vulcan said, holding up his hands. "I am unprepared to treat them effectively at such short notice."

"Doc, you've got to do something," Gannet said. "We're going to have to make a run for it, but they can't travel in this condition. Every time they try and remember something it causes them severe pain. I'm afraid of what kind of damage it's going to cause them if they're not treated right away."

"But the treatment requires further testing," the doctor argued. "I am concerned what damage it may cause in its current state if the proper testing is not completed before usage."

"Doc," Jon said. "I'm willing to take my chances. I've know for a long time that something was wrong. All of this has just confirmed my suspicions. Please, do what you have to. The risk is acceptable."

"Same here," Trip said.

Malcolm nodded.

Yuris then gestured for them to sit on a bio bed as he prepared the hypos. He worked quickly, but nervously. It was late, and sickbay was typically not monitored during these hours, but the doctor was still a bundle of nerves.

He was just about to inject Jon with the first hypo when suddenly the doors to sickbay swung open.

"So, there's a party going on, but apparently someone forgot to invite me," V'Shele said as she held her phase pistol leveled. Zeus and Kaitaama stood to either side of her.

"I told you he wasn't in his room," Kaitaama sneered.

Trip hung his head then rolled his eyes.

"Dr. Yuris, I'm disappointed," V'Shele said with a humorless smile.

"He had no choice," Gannet tried to say. "I forced him. I told him if he didn't help, I'd kill him!"

"Don't try it, Brooks!" V'Shelle said. "You just be glad I haven't already decided to terminate you. But I'm convinced I may be able to get some Starfleet secrets out of you yet, with the right incentive. Take her to the torture room. Zeus!"

"Yes Mistress," the giant man said and he went to grab her.

"The rest of you, let's go… now! Move it!"

The men slowly started to file out of the room as V'Shele held the gun on them. When all of a sudden Trip flung himself into Kaitaama, who was walking just in front of him, she in turn bumped into V'Shele, standing right in front of her. She and Kaitaama fell to the ground and the phase pistol went flying. Gannet pushed Zeus, who was distracted by the commotion. He went to help his Mistress up, and Gannet took the opportunity to break out into a run, along with Dr. Yuris, Malcolm and Jon, though the men glanced helplessly over their shoulders when they realized Trip wasn't with them.

"No you idiot!" V'Shele screamed at Zeus, swatting at his hand. "I'm fine, get them! Get them!"

It took Zeus a minute to register that V'Shele wanted him to pursue the runners rather than Trip, who was tangled on the floor with Kaitaama and V'Shele.

Zeus caught Malcolm and Jon and brought them back to the infirmary as V'Shele tried to catch up to Gannett. But she knew too many escape routes and was long gone; she had exited a secret window and dropped to the grounds.

However, Dr. Yuris was not so fortunate. V'Shele shot him in the back as he was attempting to exit yet another window. He died on the spot.


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter Sixteen:_ _Warriors_

Gannet ran the grounds and hid in a drainage pipe just at the edge of the compound. The guards searched the entire length of the massive place and even beyond, but she remained in her hiding place well until the wee hours of the night. She then crawled until she safely reached the forest line where she could take out into a run. When she was far enough away, she hid in a familiar cave. There, she met an unexpected inhabitant.

Gannet couldn't believe her eyes. How did Travis come to be there? Where had he been all this time? They had been worried sick about him. When they had all been recaptured the last time, and placed in separate cells, Travis had somehow disappeared one afternoon after he was being transported to the cloning room. No one knew what had happened to him. V'Shele had been so angry that she had shot and killed the two staff members responsible for transporting the former helmsman. Now, here he was, sleeping inside the very cave in which they had taken up refuge when the officers had escaped the first time.

When he woke up, they talked. He was still somewhat confused, but he was in in a lot better shape than his counterparts. They talked about the events of the last two weeks and he struggled to remember everything. They'd just decided to venture outside the cave to find food when something happened.

When the officers saw the ten feet tall, 600 lbs. women standing there facing them, they froze in their tracks. One of them wore one of her legs bare all the way up to the hip, the other covered with a spandex looking blue tight, tucked into her gold ankle boots. Her short mid-riff top revealed a jeweled belly-button, and tattoos down the one bare arm. She had long brown hair that was gathered up in a ponytail and she sported a jeweled band around her head. A massive bow and arrow were held easily in her hand. Her eyes were big and doe-like, and had long luxurious lashes. She was simply stunning.

Her twin wore a little red skirt and black boots that came up over her knees. She wore a jeweled sports-like bra that held up her perfect, humongous…rack. She had several jewels in her cleavage and a large jewel in her forehead. She wore her hair down, such that her brown, wavy locks flowed in the breeze. If her sister was stunning, she was ultra-stunning somehow. She brandished a sledge hammer in her hand and a massive blade at her side.

Both of these women stood staring down at Travis and Gannet as they stood, mouths agape, looking into the faces of beauty, who were in fact, beasts…that would kill them in just a few seconds.

"I am Helena," the one with the pony-tail said in a bellowing voice. "This is my sister Venus. Who are you?"

Gannet tried to speak up, but stumbled over her words, still in shock. "I – I'm G-Gan…I'm…"

"What's the matter, little girl?" Venus interrupted. "Are you slow, or does your species just speak that way?" Then she glanced at her sister and they both laughed.

"Venus," Helena finally said, "you are being rude." Then she turned back to the intruders. "Let's try this again. Who are you?"

Travis swallowed hard, looking up at the statuesque, really gorgeous woman speaking to him. "I'm sorry. "But, I don't know my name. I – I can't remember."

The women looked at one another. "Well do you remember this?" Helena shouted, pointing at her bandaged arm.

"We mean you no harm," Gannet finally said. The women looked at one another again and frowned.

"You mean us no harm?" Helena replied. "Little man, I saved you from one of the squawkings and this is the thanks I got!"

"What?" Travis asked. "I don't know what you're talking about! I really don't remember!" but Venus quickly drew her massive sword and held it out toward him.

"I want to know who you are and what you are doing here!" she shouted.

The frightened pair held up their hands and stepped backwards.

"Alright," Gannet spoke up. "Look, we escaped from the asylum. We were brought there against our will, kidnapped. We want nothing more than to get off this rock!"

"You are captives?" Helena asked as she stepped forward a little.

"Yes," Gannet admitted. A woman by the name of V'Shele, a Romulan, kidnapped us and has held us hostage for weeks."

"Should you be telling them all this?" Travis asked in an anxious undertone.

"Hey, you're cute," Venus said. Then reached out and grabbed Travis, picking him up with one hand.

"Put me down!" he shouted, startled as the giant female turned him around and around, looking him over. Travis pressed his hands against her grip, trying to free himself.

"If only you weren't so small," she smiled.

"Venus!" Helena snapped. "Would you for once stay focused! This is an interrogation, remember?"

"Wonder if he's got the necessary equipment," the beautiful woman grinned.

"Venus!" her sister exclaimed.

With that the big woman slid the zipper of Travis' pants down with her fingernail and peeked inside.

"Hey!" Travis' shouted, squirming in outrage. "This isn't a peep show lady!"

"It's there," she announced. "Small, but there. I wonder if he could…"

"That's enough!" Gannet shouted. "I don't know what you want with us, but whatever it is I suggest you get on with it! If you're going to capture us and take us back to _Mistress V'Shele_ , do it. If you're going to kill us…go ahead. As you can see, we're defenseless."

Venus finally and reluctantly let Travis drop to the ground. "So, you're not part of her army?" she asked.

"No," Gannet replied. "As I said, we were brought here against our will, by your Mistress! We were able to escape, but our friends are still at the compound. We were trying to figure out what to do next when we stumbled on your cave."

"She is _not_ our Mistress!" Helena snapped.

"You mean you don't work for her, serve her?" Gannet asked.

"Certainly not!" Venus spat.

"The one you refer to as 'Mistress V'Shele' is known to us. She has done nothing but wreak havoc on our kind!"

"We are Giannis Warriors from the far side of the planet," Helena said. "Our assignment is to retrieve two of our kind. Males of our species."

"You're talking about Zeus and Apollo, aren't you," Gannet said.

"You have encountered them?" Helena beamed.

"I'll say," Travis growled. "And I've got the bruises to prove it."

"What to you mean, you have the bruises to prove it? They are non-violent individuals, they are intellectuals."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Travis laughed out loud before he knew it. No one else did. "Oh sorry. Are we talking about the same Zeus and Apollo? The ones we met are two big dumb brutes who beat up on us every chance they got."

With that the women drew their weapons.

"Travis, something tells me you didn't get high marks for diplomacy at the Academy," Gannet muttered, stepping in front of the helmsman and holding out her hands. "Ladies, V'Shele has done something to your men. Infected them with parasitic creatures. They've affected their brains, caused them to seem somewhat …slow-witted and enslaved them to her."

Helena and Venus looked at one another, scowling.

"How do you know this?" Helena asked.

"She's done the same thing to our friends," Gannet said. "Done the same thing to him. That's why his memory is sketchy."

The women then re-holstered their weapons. "Can this condition be reversed?" Venus asked.

"It has been before," Gannet said. "If it's treated in time. Truth is, we don't know for sure."

"But we certainly hope so," Travis said.

"Okay, look," Helena said. "We're pretty anxious ourselves to get our hands on the evil one."

"The evil one?" Gannet asked curiously. "Not that I would disagree with that designation of her, but what makes you call her that?"

"There's only a few of us left now. Just a few hundred," Venus explained. "Our village lies on the far side of the planet. We keep to ourselves mostly. We never bothered anybody until that red-headed, evil-woman crash landed in our village a few years back. She was hurt. We nursed her back to health and helped her repair her space craft to get home. Even sent a couple of our men, Samson and Goliath, to escort her to safety. They were never heard from again. Then, out of the blue, she returned one day, bewitched several of our men and convinced them to leave with her. We didn't know about the parasites. We just knew that losing the males of our species meant moving closer to extinction for us".

"We can't let that happen" Helena added. "We've been looking for them ever since, following every lead. We had no idea they were right here, so close by, all this time."

Travis and Gannet looked at one another.

"But you've given us hope," Helena said. "We have searched the planet for months. Perhaps we are not too late to rescue them, to heal them of their affliction."

"We may be able to help one another," Gannet said. "Perhaps we can lead you to where your men are, if you can help us rescue our friends.

The two women looked at one another. "Sounds reasonable," Venus said. "Join us in our cave for the evening; you look tired. Come, eat, rest. In the morning, we will devise a plan – a mutually beneficial plan."

"That sounds great," Travis said. "And I'm sorry about your arm, I'm sure I was just scared."

"I forgive you," Helena said. "But it was foolish of you to run off like that. There's a lot of dangers in the forest.

"Yeah, we know about the giant kai-yas," Gannet replied. "Been there and done that."

"Yeah, sure," Venus said. Kai-yas are one thing. But the squawkings are another."

"What are these squawkings you keep talking about?" Travis asked.

"The big giant birds, look like a dinosaur with wings," Venus replied. "One of them almost took you away until I ran it off. You don't remember?"

Travis's eye became big as saucers.

"Relax," she said. "The squawkings feed only once every so many days. So if one of them carries you away, they won't tear you apart for at least two-three days. That way you'll have a fighting chance to get away."

Travis and Gannet looked at one another again. Then the two giant women led them away to their cave.

=/\=

The Starfleet away team consisted of eight women. T'Pol, Erika, Hoshi, Liz, Serena and Nyla, the two Trill women, the Andorian Armory Officer Ensign Kara Howard and the Coridian Engineer Lieutenant LaMiri Brinson. They beamed back down to the compound where the men were being held in an area where no bio signs were detected. They would start their search there.

It wasn't long, however, before they were confronted by an army of replicates. They were stunned by what they saw. There had to be at least thirty or so. And unfortunately, those thirty consisted of a mixture of V'Shele, Trip, Malcolm, Koss, and Gannet replicates. All of which possessed special skill sets.

"How do we know if they're clones?" Liz asked. "What if they're our guys?"

"There are no human bio signs present," T'Pol said as she clipped her scanner back to her waist.

"So, we can cut 'em down then," Liz concluded.

"Affirmative," T'Pol said.

With that, as the replicates ran toward the Starfleet officers, they opened fire. The creatures screeched as they tried to attack but were quickly gunned down and fell to their deaths. But the frontal attack was a diversion, for another set of replicates came bearing down on the away team from the opposite direction almost immediately.

T'Pol, Hoshi and Erika engaged in hand to hand combat with several of the look-a-likes. Apparently, V'Shele's firepower was limited. T'Pol engaged a Malcolm Reed who spin-kicked her to the ground. She shook herself back into order, leaped to her feet and ran at him, punching him in the face several times, while dodging his strikes in return. She finally knocked him down with a punch under the chin and a kick to the mid-section. Once down, she banged his head into the floor several times, and he did not get up.

Hoshi was busy with a faux Gannet with whom the linguist was holding her own for a few minutes, but Gannet was a trained operative so Hoshi's upper hand didn't last long. Hoshi punched Gannet in the face which caused her to stumble backwards, then threw a kick at her, but Gannet blocked it, catching her leg and throwing her to the ground. The look-alike let out a screeching sound and attacked the Starfleet officer so as to take hold of her and sting her, but Erika shot her just in time.

Koss then attacked Erika from behind and Hoshi ran over to help, but the big Vulcan male was too much for the two women. T'Pol was busy handling another Malcolm and the other women were busy dealing with Trip and V'Shele replicates.

The Koss replicate kicked Hoshi and she went flying then started to sting Erika as she screamed. Then suddenly a shot hit faux Koss right between the eyes. It was Liz, from across the room. Her victim fell to the floor, withered up and died.

T'Pol was being choked by a V'Shele imposter as Hoshi and Erika started to re-group in time to try and help, but Liz turned her phase pistol on the villain creature and shot it in the head, dropping it where it stood. She then rolled on the floor in the direction of four other replicates that were heading in their direction and shot two Trips, a Gannet and a Malcolm before they made it down the corridor.

Nyla, Serena, LaMiri and Kara continued to fire upon even more replicates of Archers, V'Sheles, Kaitaamas, Trips, Malcolms and Koss' as they continued to pour into the corridor from both sides.

Liz blasted duplicates from her hiding place on the staircase until replicate Malcolm spotted her and ran upon her, took her by the arm, twisted it as she screamed, and took the phase pistol – fortunately he left her for useless, jumping back into the chaos below. "I think the bastard broke my arm!" she cried out.

"Cutler!" T'Pol called out to the young physician and tossed her a phase rifle she had just taken away from her main adversary. Liz caught the weapon with her left hand, and even though she was right handed, was not deterred. Using one hand, she went about mowing down several more imposters as they aimed weapons at them.

When Serena and Nyla had emptied their weapons, they pulled the ancient swords from their backs they had been teased for bringing along and immediately went about slicing replicates in half and decapitating others before they could get off shots or attack them. The women stood back to back at times, or flung themselves over one another backs, even using the other as step stools to lunge at their victims. It was quite a show.

The replicates had all either withered up and died or were screeching and turning black. They would be dead in minutes. It was unsettling to see. When the hallway was littered with dead or dying kai-ya/replicate colleagues, the away team gathered so as to move forward. They were all shaken, and many of them wounded or injured.

"Everybody okay?" Erika asked, stepping over mounds of ash.

"Yes…Yes ma'am…fine." They all answered.

"This is disgusting," Liz said with a sickening look on her face looking around.

"Try not to dwell on it," Erika said rubbing her neck where she had been attacked. "No matter how bad it is."

"We had a job to do," T'Pol said.

"Ladies, that was quite a performance you put on," Erika said to Serena and Nyla. "I take back everything I said about you bringing a knife to a gun fight. How the hell did you learn all that stuff?"

"Well ma'am," Nyla began. "We were stuck on that planet for two years, just the seven of us. We had a lot of time to practice."

"And Liz!" Hoshi started. "How did you pull that great shooting off with one arm, your left one at that?"

"Didn't even have time to think about it," Liz answered. "Just knew I wasn't planning on dying out here, that's all, or anybody else going out like that either."

"I thought the physician's creed was 'First, do no harm'," Erika said to the young doctor teasingly.

"Yeah, well, they never said anything about second," she replied.

"Good job," Erika laughed. "Your arm okay"

"Thanks ma'am" Liz said. "Yeah it's gonna be okay, probably just a sprain. But I've always been a great shot. My certification scores were right up there with the MACOS, its just that no one ever noticed since I was medical. No one but Captain Reed, of course. He noticed everything."

"Yes, Ms. Cutler, it appears I owe you an apology," T'Pol said. "You handle yourself quite well with a weapon."

"In other words what you're trying to say is that I'm a first class, badass bitch!" Liz replied with a grin.

T'Pol just raised an eyebrow at that.

Everybody laughed.

Then they moved forward to continue their search for the men.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter Seventeen: Rescue**_

The away team proceeded cautiously down the corridor into a large common area – turning, looking, holding their phase weapons out in front of them, they were trying to anticipate further attacks when a couple of unexpected shots came from nowhere. LaMiri and Kara immediately fell over. The rest of the women ran for cover, trying desperately to see where the shots had come from.

Then Erika and Hoshi, hiding in the same spot, spotted the shooters. They were two of V'Shele's guards, hiding behind two large pillars across the room.

Erika reached for her phase pistol to return fire but it was empty of power. She cursed. "Damn it! I'm empty! Hoshi!"

The linguist then checked the power cell of her own weapon. "I'm out too!" she hissed. "We put out so much today. I had no idea we'd need to reload!"

Suddenly, another series of unexpected shots from above whizzed through the room. Both the guards fell over dead. It was _Gannet Brooks_ who had dropped them – the real one; or was it?

"Pick your jaws up off the floor, it's me, the real me!" Gannet hollered. "In the flesh, not the kai-ya flesh!" Then she ran down the staircase, just about reaching the end as phase fire whizzed by her from the direction she'd come from; she ducked and returned fire, then finally jumped over the rail and joined the Starfleet officers behind the wall.

"V'Shele!" T'Pol shouted from her hiding place behind a nearby column. "Show yourself!"

"Ah! You finally made it T'Pol!" V'Shele yelled back. "What took you so long?"

"Where's Malcolm?" Hoshi screamed.

V'Shele laughed at that. "Hoshiii! You too! How are you my dear sweet? I've missed you – you wouldn't believe how much!"

"Fuck you, you crazy-assed bitch!" Hoshi shrieked, losing her cool.

"Hoshi, calm down," Erika said, reaching out to her companion. The linguist closed her eyes with an effort as she stood shaking.

"Where are the Starfleet officers?" T'Pol asked, trying to speak with no inflection in her voice. "Perhaps we can negotiate their release."

"C'mon T'Pol! You mean where is that fucking Tucker, don't you? And ' _negotiate'?_ " V'Shele said derisively. "You have nothing I want, Vulcan. I on the other hand, have everything _you_ want!"

"You are outnumbered, Romulan," T'Pol pointed out, her voice harder. "Should we engage in a battle, you will lose. Your army of replicates are all dead now. You have limited fire power, if any, and you cannot win in a hand to hand combat."

With that V'Shele, Koss, Kaitaama, and Raijiin came out of the shadows and entered the courtyard, all unarmed.

Seeing this, T'Pol, Erika, Gannett, Liz, Hoshi, Nyla and Serena came out of hiding and stood across from their adversaries.

V'Shele laughed a little. "We're hardly outnumbered," she sneered. "While you and Ms. Brooks are formidable opponents, I see no one on your team that can match Raijiin or myself, or the strength of my friend and confidant Koss. I would also advise you not to underestimate the cunning of Kaitaama. She may appear to be a flighty damsel in distress but I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth. And Zeus and Apollo," she gestured at them, standing silently in the background, "their presence alone speaks for _them_. I would suggest, my dear T'Pol, that it is _you_ who are outnumbered."

There was a deafening silence for a few moments. Then something totally unexpected happened.

"Not so fast, _Mistress_ ," Raijiin said. She turned and got right up in the Romulan's face, startling V'Shele into taking a few steps backwards. Then she walked across the room and stood beside Gannet.

"What are you doing, Raijiin?" V'Shele shouted angrily. "Get back here!"

"I was never infected with the parasites, V'Shele!" she shouted back, her face contorted. "I was playing along, spying, helping Gannet, helping Dr. Yuris find a cure! Then you _killed_ him! Poor, sweet Dr. Yuris, he never did anything to you!"

"What!" Gannet said, glancing sideways, clearly shocked and distressed. "Yuris is dead?"

"Yes! She shot him in the back the night you escaped. He was trying to get away," Raijin said sadly. "He didn't make it."

"You sick, twisted, stark raving, lunatic!" Gannet shouted, with a look of sheer rage coming over her face. "I was the one trying to help the Starfleet officers escape! There was no need to kill Yuris, he was no threat to you!"

"He betrayed me!" V'Shele shouted. "Just like you have betrayed me, Raijiin. I ought to kill you right now!"

"You can try!" the blonde woman shouted back.

V'Shele spat. "Now you will never see your son again!"

With that, Raijiin started for the Romulan but was held back by Erika, standing on the other side of her, as well as by T'Pol, who stepped in front of her to block her path.

"Is this accurate information, Ms. Brooks?" the Vulcan asked softly

"Every word," Gannet said, meeting her gaze levelly.

"Raijin…welcome to the team," T'Pol said. Even though she had no affinity for the strange alien woman whom had once injured her in an encounter on Enterprise years ago, today she wasn't turning down any help. Then she turned her attention back to V'Shele. "Well then, it appears our team has grown within the last few seconds. Perhaps Koss would care to join our team as well; the winning team."

Koss only gave a wry smile. "No, I will elect to pass on your most foolish offer, T'Pol. A foolish offer and decision. One of many in a long line of foolish decisions. The most foolish of all, the election of your current mate. He is not worthy of you. How do I know this? Perhaps you should ask your so called 'Adun' how he allowed me to do to him, how do I put it, what comes naturally between human lovers and Vulcans in the throes of _pon farr_."

"You lie!" T'Pol shouted, her cool brown eyes momentarily ablaze.

"T'Pol!" Erika said, reaching her hand out for the Vulcan, feeling her quivering with rage.

"Are you gonna talk us to death or we gonna get on with this thing?" Liz spoke up, dropping into a 'ready' stance.

" _Attack!"_ V'Shele shouted.

And then the chaos began, as more of V'Shele guards – whom T'Pol's team did not know she still had – suddenly appeared.

=/\=

 _ **Back on**_ **Excalibur** _ **.**_

Wesley stood toe to toe with Phlox at the door of Sickbay. "Get out of my way, doc! I gotta get down there!"

"You're not going anywhere, young man," the Denobulan countered firmly. "That infection has spread beyond your hand and you need further treatment. So, I suggest you get back on that bio-bed right this instant!"

"The team needs a weapons expert and neither of us are down there! There's no telling what's going on, so get out of my way!"

Suddenly, there was a call from the Bridge.

It was Kov. It seemed Liz Cutler was trying to contact Wesley.

"Put her through," Phlox said with a sigh.

" _Wesley!"_ Liz said frantically. _"We're getting our asses handed to us down here. We need help!"_

"On my way!" the injured man said. Then he swayed, almost falling down.

"No, he is _not_ ," Phlox interjected. "He can barely stand." Then he helped the dizzy man over to the bio-bed.

" _Just tell me what to do with some of this shit!"_ Liz's voice shouted from the comm. panel.

"Okay, okay," Wesley said wiping sweat from his forehead. "Look in the bag. You see the moxxies?"

Down behind a large planter in the courtyard, where she was sheltering while the defenders' limited firepower held the new enemy at bay, this sounded like complete nonsense. "Moxxies?" Liz exclaimed.

" _They look like marbles!"_

Liz fumbled in the bag on her shoulder. "I got 'em!"

" _Okay! Take a handful of 'em and put 'em in your mouth!"_

"In my mouth!"

" _Yeah Liz, in your mouth!"_

Cutler put about three of the marbles in her mouth. They just about fitted. Wesley's voice came weakly through the communicator. _"Okay get 'em good and wet, but not too wet, if you do, they'll blow you to bits."_ Liz's eyes got big as saucers. _"If you don't get 'em wet enough they won't work."_ But she had already spat them out; she wasn't taking chances in these circumstances.

"Now what!" she spat, literally.

" _Throw 'em at the bastards!"_

She threw them at several of the guards, but nothing happened. "It didn't work you nutcase! You got me out here sucking on marbles, giving away my location for nothing!"

" _Maybe cause you didn't do it right, sweetheart!"_

" _Sweetheart_?" Liz said incredulously.

" _Just shut up and do it again, cupcake! You got get 'em wet enough until they feel like jello, but not until they feel like mush. If they start to feel like mush, they'll blow your head off!"_

"Fucking sexist bastard," Liz mumbled and took three more of the marbles, hesitated, cursed to herself then popped them in her mouth and sucked them with a grimace. This time she held them there till they became gelatin-like. She quickly took them out of her mouth and threw them into a crowd of guards as they stormed the room and – _kaboom!_ Arms, legs and heads went flying.

There were just two left, so she quickly wet them up and was able to dispatch four more of V'Shele's army in the same manner. She laughed, caught up in the savagery of the moment.

While Liz and Wesley were doing their thing, Nyla and Serena were busy dicing and slicing the enemy with their ancient weapons.

Serena cupped her hands together as Nyla stepped into them and hurled herself into the air, turning mid-air and coming down upon two guards. She decapitated them with one swing, then caught a couple of their adversaries as she slid onto her knees. Serena, swiftly turning, took on one that had just come up behind her, pivoting and taking another one in front of her.

Raijiin fought with V'Shele, throwing her hard against a concrete beam. The Romulan crashed into it and was stunned. Raijin seemed to especially enjoy the opportunity to dispatch her enemy, and lunged forward, reaching for her opponent's throat starting to choke her mercilessly. But Gannet, seeing from a distance what was happening, called out to her friend.

"Don't do it Raijin!" she shouted. "If you kill her, you won't be able to find your son!"

It was probably the only thing that could have reached Rajiin at that moment. She loosed her grip and V'Shele took the opportunity to kick her in the knee, leap to her feet and run from the courtyard.

Rajiin took a minute to recover, and ran after her.

Koss fought with Erika and Hoshi, and he was truly too much for them to handle. That was, until T'Pol joined them.

"You would actually fight me?" Koss asked her, as if insulted.

T'Pol hesitated, then punched him, hard in the mouth, sending him flying backwards.

When it finally appeared that all of V'Shele's army was dead, dying or had run away, and the Starfleet women were gaining the upper hand, V'Shele sauntered back into view, summoning her final, unbeatable weapons Zeus and Apollo, who stepped forward to join the fight.

"You are still outnumbered, Vulcan!" she shouted to T'Pol as the giants took a fight stance behind their Mistress, who laughed heartily. "You didn't think I wouldn't have a back-up plan did you? Now my replicate Zeus and Apollos will kill all of you at my command! You are no match for them!"

"Yes but they are no match for _us!_ " said Venus, as she and Helena entered the hall brandishing their sledge hammers, massive blades, bow and arrows.

Gannet just grinned as the Starfleet women stood there with their mouths agape.

"Oh, _shit!_ " Kaitaama, who had been watching from the balcony, turned around and ran.

The faux giants began shooting their massive bow and arrows at their new opponents immediately. One of the arrows struck Helena in the shoulder. That only made her mad. She snapped off the shaft and then ran at the faux giants and swung her massive sledge hammer at them. It struck Apollo in the head and he fell dead.

The Zeus imposter punched Venus hard, probably breaking her jaw. Then he got her down, his massive elbow around her neck, but she used her knee to kick him in the chin, got free, and with her hands clasped together, beat his head several times. Then her sister rushed at him with her sword and sliced it clean through his neck.

And that was that.

After the faux giants were dead, the real ones stumbled into view, looking bewildered.

V'Shele ordered them to kill the Giannis Warrior women. But they could not. Even though they were infected with the parasites, there was something about being in close proximity to their kinswomen that reached their minds. Instead they dropped to their knees and kissed Venus' and Helena's feet. It was a bittersweet moment.

=/\=

T'Pol had Gannet arrest Koss, V'Shele and even Kaitaama. They were beamed up to the ship and tossed into the brig.

Ultimately, T'Pol knew all she could do to Kaitaama was return her to Krios Prime. She was not even certain she could do anything to Koss but return him to Vulcan.

She would take V'Shele to United Earth, however, where she was wanted for war crimes.

She thought about killing her but knew that she couldn't. Perhaps she should turn her and Koss over to someone capable of killing them. She was just glad to have found Trip and all of the Starfleet officers. The question now was, would they be all right?

Gannet told Liz that she had left Travis. He'd been in no shape to engage in a battle so she and the warrior twins had left him stashed in a room on the first floor of the compound on the west end.

Liz hurried along the corridor and found the room where he waited. She opened the door. When he saw her he leaped up from the bed he was resting on. For a minute they just stared at one another. His head was still in a cloud and he heard a sound like a continuous buzz.

"Hey!" she said, smiling at him.

"Hey," he replied, a bit uncertainly.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked.

"Should I?"

"Like yeah," Liz replied. "I'm only the woman you proposed to, the woman you're gonna marry."

"Marry?" he said with a frown. "I'm sorry. The other lady, Gannet, she said her name was, told me about a Liz Cutler. Said, we were engaged. That's all I know. But I can't remember any of it. Now, who're you supposed to be?"

"Close enough!" Liz said. Then she ran over, jumped on him wrapped her legs around him and kissed Travis deeply.

When she finally let him go he looked at her and said, "You know what, if you're not Liz, you ought to be!" Then they kissed again.

=/\=

Gannet interrogated one of V'Shele's guards who was still alive and he spilled the beans about Raijiin's child. The boy was in a deserted building on the grounds. In an underground room, in stasis.

When they located him, Raijiin couldn't stop crying. She would never have been able to find him if the guard had not broken. But her heart felt as if it would shatter to pieces, knowing that her child had been in that cold underground room, in a tube all those months. She wanted to kill V'Shele.

They immediately had the boy sent up to the ship in his cryo-tube so Phlox could bring him out slowly and safely.

=/\=

Because Travis had escaped, he had not received the final treatment of the parasitic infection Dr. Yuris was forced by V'Shele to prepare as the other officers had. He had also benefitted from Raijiin's temporary cure and at least some of the creatures had exited his body. Therefore, he was not in as bad shape as the others. Besides, he was a much younger man. According to Phlox all these things worked in his favor so the doctor estimated that his recovery time would not be as long. He was able to literally walk into sick bay on his own two feet.

Unfortunately, Trip, Malcolm and Jon were by now not so fortunate. The night that Dr. Yuris died, V'Shele had ordered the medics to administer the final treatment in its purest, raw form. It had been devastating to the officers. Rather than causing them to become more submissive and obedient, it simply caused them to become lethargic, experience mental impairment and constant severe migraines. Phlox had to have them transported to sick bay on a stretcher. It was a very disturbing thing to witness for the wives and even for Phlox. He just hoped that his cure would be able to restore them to full health.

Prior to leaving Capella Prime II the doctor had the opportunity to speak to the healer of Venus and Helena's village. The news wasn't good. Unfortunately, it did not appear that Zeus and Apollo's condition could not be reversed.

Another sad and unfortunate fact was that the nine officers who had accompanied the Starfleet officers on the Admiral's ship, the _Pioneer_ , en route to the conference had been killed immediately by V'Shele. She had no use for them and considered them collateral damage.

Because they did not have enough personnel to operate the Admiral's ship, _Excalibur_ had to tow the small craft back to base. But it was over, mission accomplished. The warrior women of Starfleet had rescued their men, _with a little help from a few other warrior women_ , and they were at last going home.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter Eighteen: Conclusion**_

Three Months Later.

Star Fleet Headquarters, Medical Bay.

Hoshi was just finishing getting dressed.

Malcolm waited in Phlox's office for her. He was as nervous as a cat. He drummed his fingers on the desk until Phlox finally reached over and put his hand over the Brit's without looking away from his computer screen. At last Hoshi came in.

Malcom jumped up, almost knocking his chair over. He had just been cleared to go back on active duty, just over twelve weeks after the terrible ordeal on Capella Prime II. There had been times when it had seemed that he might never be restored to full health, as there were more than a few set-backs. But after three full months he'd finally been able to pass Phlox's medical exam and psychological tests – though he still had to check in once a month for the next ninety days before he was completely released.

"Have a seat, Hoshi," Phlox said, indicating the chair opposite.

She sat down and smiled anxiously.

"Well?" Malcolm demanded, unwilling to wait one more second for the news they so desperately wanted.

"First of all, let me be clear, I never agreed to this," Phlox said. "Had I known Hoshi was pregnant and that she had had her embryo removed so that she could go on some dangerous, unauthorized rescue mission…"

"We know Phlox, we know," Hoshi interrupted.

"Yes, we're quite aware of your feelings on the subject," her husband added, rather waspishly. "You've scolded my wife numerous times and I can't say that I disagree – though since she was instrumental in saving my life, I can hardly complain. But right now, I just want to know if I'm going to still be a father or not!"

Phlox sighed, and then smiled. "The embryo is quite healthy and has been successfully re-implanted safely inside his mother's womb."

With that both Hoshi and Malcolm shouted for joy, leaped up and hugged one another. Then Hoshi ran around the desk to hug Phlox.

"But, young lady," he finally said, "you _will_ go on an extended leave of absence. This is now a high-risk pregnancy. Removing and re-implanting embryos, is a very risky business, even by today's standards."

"Anything you say doctor, anything you say!" Hoshi replied.

"Does this mean we can finally tell people?" Malcolm asked.

Phlox grinned one of his famous grins.

"I'd say it's safe to tell your friends and family."

Again, the couple shouted for joy.

=/\=

 _Liz's Apartment, San Francisco._

Travis was bored out of his mind, had totally tuned out the wedding planner and by now had even dozed off. He didn't give a flying flip about the colors, the flowers, the venue, the cakes, the menu, the chair covers, the china, who sat where, or any of it quite frankly. He just wanted it over with already.

"Travis.

"Travis… _Commander Mayweather!"_ Liz raised her voice.

"What!" he finally answered, startled.

She directed a fake smile at the wedding planner and then kicked her fiancé under the table.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you'd nodded off!" she said through her teeth, _"Commander_."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were going just a little overboard, sweetheart. We agreed to keep it simple, nothing too extravagant."

" _You_ agreed to keep it simple. I was born extravagant… _dear_!"

"Don't call me dear… _dear_ ," he said, his smile starting to fade. "And you are just being _extra_ , again, my love."

" _Extra!"_ she said, her own smile now gone completely. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what that means: being extreme, adding unnecessary extensions!" Travis snapped. "Ms. Extra Elizabeth Elaine Cutler!"

"That's _Doctor_ Extra Elizabeth Elaine Cutler to you!" she shouted back.

"Don't holler at me," Travis said rising abruptly. "You know what, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that this wedding isn't about anything more than all this stuff." He gestured at the samples of china, champagne and wedding cake. "If I didn't know any better, I might just think it wasn't about _us_ , about _me_ , or being _in love_ at all, it's just about you and your damned wedding!"

"Uh, maybe I should go," the wedding planner suggested, rising, alarm on her face.

"Shut up!" they both said at the same time.

"Well if I didn't know any better," Liz continued, "I'd think you didn't want to get married at all!"

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't!" Travis shouted.

"Well too damn bad, Commander flyboy Mayweather, cause you fucking are getting married! I bought a dress, told my parents and sent out invitations, and your ass is going to show up!"

"Wanna bet?" the helmsman shouted.

Liz didn't say more. She just grabbed a handful of the sample cake, walked over to her fiancé and politely pushed it in to his face.

He wasn't just shocked, he was pissed off. Then he wiped his face, calmly walked over to the cake, scooped up some of it, walked over to where she stood fuming and pushed it in _her_ face.

She wiped her face off, walked over to the cake and was just about to push some more of it in Travis' face when he grabbed her and kissed her. Pretty soon they were going at it pretty aggressively.

It was when the clothes started flying off that the wedding planner cleared her throat and asked, "Uh … should I come back another time?"

"Oh, uh…yeah…sorry," Liz said, blushing. "That is, unless you want to watch."

With that the poor woman grabbed her purse and ran.

"You're crazy, you know that," Travis said, kissing her again.

=/\=

 _Jon's House. San Francisco._

Erika had been invited over for a drink. Jon had something he wanted to discuss with her. He let her in and made her a gin and tonic, and poured himself a bourbon. They chatted for a while.

"I'm really glad to see you doing better, Jon," she said. "You had us all worried for a while."

"It's been a long road to recovery," he replied. "I can't begin to tell you how relieved I was when Phlox cleared me to return to active duty. It's been over three months."

"But that was some really nasty business on Capella Prime II," his former lover said with a frown. "I just hope we can all move past the things we saw and experienced with a reasonable degree of closure."

Jon put his drink down on the breakfast bar and leaned forward toward Erika as she sat on the bar stool. "I have to admit, I still have nightmares. I remember when Trip was first infected with those parasites and what he went through. You know the anger and aggression, the brain damage and all that. Then the way I treated him afterwards…"

"Jon you didn't know," Hernandez tried to say. "No one knew what Trip was really going through. We just all thought he was going crazy or something. I accused him of doing drugs for heaven's sake! All you knew was that he was disobeying orders and doing things that were totally out of character. You had no way of knowing he'd suffered brain damage because of those parasites."

"I know, I know," Jon replied, his brow wrinkled, his face troubled. "It's just that looking back, having had my own experience with a version of those things… I can only imagine what Trip was going through…alone. It makes me sick to think about it."

Erika reached her hand out and covered his. "Hey, it's okay…" she started, when suddenly the front door slid open. A little boy ran in, followed by Raijin carrying bags.

"Daddy!" the little boy said and ran to greet Jon.

Archer picked his son up and kissed him. "How's it going, sport?" he said.

"Just great, daddy! We had fun! We went everywhere! We rode in a hover car! And we went to a place called a zoo! And mommy went shopping! And…"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, daddy can't keep up when you talk fast like that and I don't want to miss anything, okay?"

"Okay daddy!" the little boy said. "Hi, Auntie Erika! Mommy, can I go play now? Thanks!" Then he ran off into the back room where his toys were kept.

"Erika, I'm sorry," Raijin said, with a slightly embarrassed look.

"No need to apologize," the Commodore said. "He's a kid.

Raijin laughed a little. "He's a little hyper. We're working on that. How are you?"

"I'm great. You?"

"Couldn't be better," Raijin replied. "Hey, I'm not going to interrupt. I'll just go to the back and

hang out with Johnny until you guys are done." Then she exited the room.

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry," Jon said. "That's what I wanted to tell you."

"Are they living here?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, no," he replied. "But they have access. It's just easier if they can come and go, kinda, as they please. But she doesn't take advantage…It's not like I'm seeing anybody."

"Jon, you don't owe me an explanation," Erika said, but she couldn't help feeling a little hurt.

"Well, I feel like I do, at least on some level," he explained. Then he cleared his throat and continued. "Raijin and Johnny are going to be leaving soon. She said she's going to go back to Praddox Prime. It's the closest thing she has to a home. She wants to re-open her business. But she's promised to stay in touch, to bring Johnny to UE at least a couple of times a year. I'm going to try to get there as often as I can too, every chance I get."

"I understand that, you should," his former lover stated emphatically.

"I just didn't want things to be weird between us," he replied. "Look, I handled our break-up badly. So badly, that it's been difficult for us to even be friends and for that I'm profoundly sorry. And Erika, there've been so many times that I wanted to call you up and say, say…well I don't know what I would've said, to be honest, but I wanted you back."

Erika's heart skipped a beat. She wanted to run into his arms, but she didn't move. There was a little problem in the back room – two of them, in fact, and she knew she couldn't live with them. She finally got up from where she was sitting and walked around the bar to where Jon was standing. She looked into his eyes, and then she kissed him.

"Jon," she began. "We don't work. We tried, two, three times, and we just don't work. I'm not going to give up my career for what you have back there," she said, gesturing toward the back room where Johnny and Raijin were. "At this point in my life I don't want to have a baby, I'm not even sure I want to get married anymore."

"Erika…" he tried to interrupt.

"No, Jon, it's okay – really, it is. I don't think I knew for sure until this moment."

"But you came half-way across the universe and risked your life for me," he said in a low voice.

"I didn't do that for you Jon, not really." Erika replied. "I did that for me." Then she took his hands in hers. "Let me talk to you for a moment, Admiral Archer…Don't you dare let Raijin take your child away from here again. I really don't think she's doing it to hurt you this time. I think her motives are pure. But there is another solution. Now, let me ask you a loaded question, do you love her?"

He hesitated. "I-I don't know," he replied. "I care for her deeply."

"Well, that's something," his friend said. "Maybe you ought to give it a chance. Ask her to stay, try to make it work with her…see what happens." With that she kissed his hands, kissed him on the cheek, and then turned and walked out.

=/\=

 _Trip and T'Pol's House, San Francisco._

T'Pol entered the room to find Trip in his underwear, engaged in his favorite pastime of late, playing video games and drinking beer.

She came in, saw what was on the vid screen, reached for the remote and turned the game off.

"What did you do that for?" he yelled. "I was about to reach level twenty-seven! Thirteen more levels and I'm the new champion!"

"That is of no concern to me!" T'Pol replied sternly.

"You had no right!"

"You promised me you would find something more productive to do today. You said you would speak to Starfleet Academy about teaching a class."

He looked sullen. "T'Pol, they're not going to let me teach a class."

"Not a class for the entire term, no. But perhaps a workshop, or a presentation on a particular engineering subject."

"Alright, alright, I'll do it if you'll stop nagging me!" he shouted, and then switched the game back on.

T'Pol didn't respond. She just stared at him for a moment, then she turned and left the room.

She went into the kitchen and began to prepare lunch. After a few minutes he came in and sat down at the island where she was chopping vegetables.

"I'm sorry, T'Pol," he said. "I can't seem to do anything right anymore."

"Trip, that is not true and you know it."

He turned away for a moment. "I'm just frustrated. I'm the only one who still hasn't been cleared to return to work. Phlox says my brain is still healing. He said I need to give it time to heal."

"Then that is exactly what you need to do."

Trip just laid his elbows on the counter and put his head in his hands.

T'Pol stopped her work for a moment. "It may help if you talked about what happened when you saw Phlox two weeks ago. You have not discussed with me what happened."

He lifted his head and looked at her. At first, she thought he was going to protest and storm out as he had done so many times before. This time however, he didn't.

"Well, you know his exam consists of a series of random questions to test memory. Then he observes me for a couple of hours doing regular stuff, you know, reading a PADD, performing some minor task, just having a conversation, having a meal. He puts me in the imaging chamber and looks at the results, then asks more random questions."

"Yes, he shared with me the nature of his tests. He is a licensed psychiatrist, so he is able to perform psychological testing as well."

"Yeah well, he did that too. As well as an hour of counseling. You know, how do you feel? How are you sleeping? Tell me about your nightmares, etc., etc."

"Anyway, my test was going good. Then he asked me something I couldn't answer. For the life of me I couldn't answer the question. I just drew a blank…and things went downhill from there."

"What was the question?" T'Pol asked, her lunch preparations forgotten.

Trip frowned, looking at his hands. He hesitated for such a long while that she thought he was not going to tell her. Finally, "He asked me what was the name of my sister who died while we were in the Expanse."

There was silence for a few moments. "I didn't know," he said softly. "I really didn't know. I couldn't remember my own sister's name. Lizzie! Elizabeth! I just couldn't remember her name. Then, the damn room started spinning, and everything went black. I couldn't see, and it happened! The headache! The…goddamned parasitic headache! Why was I having a blinding, searing, splitting, headache? It was because I was trying to remember my sister's name, that's why! It was because I still had a little residual bit of parasitic infection somewhere lodged in my brain. At least that what Phlox said. "The whole thing lasted about five minutes."

There was silence again. She watched as Trip wiped a tear off his face.

"I am sorry, Adun."

"You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault," he said and smiled weakly. "But that wasn't the worst of it. Seems I got a little out of control. Phlox ended up sedating me. I woke up an hour later on a bio-bed, with a big ole "FAILED" sign stamped on my forehead."

T'Pol raised her eyebrow at that. Trip just frowned and waved his hand at her.

"Listen, don't worry about lunch for me. I'm gonna go for a long walk," he told her.

"That is fine. Just please don't forget tonight."

"Tonight, what's tonight?"

"Admiral Archer's party. He wants to celebrate everyone's progress three months after the Capella Prime incident. He is expecting us at 8:00 pm."

"Oh, hell no!" Trip exclaimed. "I'm not going over there! What the hell do I have to celebrate? I'm the odd man out! My life is going backwards compared to everyone else's! No, I'm not going!"

They argued for quite some time about the party, with Trip adamant that there was no way he would go. But when the time came, he did.

=/\=

 _That Night. Jon's Place._

The atmosphere was light. There was good food, music, dancing, jokes, laughter. Malcolm made his announcement about being cleared for active duty, and everybody cheered and toasted him. Then they sprung the news about the baby and everybody went wild!

Travis and Liz updated everybody about the wedding and all the women looked at pictures of the venue, the colors, the cakes, etc., etc., while Travis rolled his eyes.

Jon announced that he had been cleared for active duty and was being promoted to full Admiral. He would no longer be out in space, opting to remain local to spend more time with his son. He also announced that Raijin and Johnny would be remaining in UE indefinitely, though he didn't add that they would be moving in with him.

This was a night of great news for everyone.

When it came time for Trip and T'Pol to share their news, however, the atmosphere went South.

"Well," Trip began. "No need for cheers and a toast for me – I was handed a big fat denial, for a third time, to return to active duty. Had an episode right smack in the middle of the test. Seems I still have some residue of the parasite infection in my brain, and it's still affecting me." He looked around bitterly at the shocked faces of his fellow-officers – his _ex_ fellow officers now, it seemed.

"Now Starfleet can't have somebody that's prone to forget who he is, where he is, what he's doing or why he's doing it, even goin' blind cause of a splittin' headache out there captainin' a ship, can they? Even if it's for five minutes. I wouldn't have a sick bastard like that as Captain of one of my ships."

Everyone just stood there stunned, holding their drinks in their hands. T'Pol was embarrassed, but of course tried to look expressionless. Trip looked over at her. How long would it be before she, too, gave up on him?

"Trip," Jon started, looking at his colleagues. "I don't know what to say…"

"You don't have to say anything," he replied. "It's not your fault."

"You should have said something," Malcolm interjected.

"Don't worry about it Mal."

Then Hoshi had to go and – quite unintentionally – make it worse. "Well, at least you have some news about the baby, right?" she asked with a smile. Everyone else was all smiles, relieved to have salvaged something from the ruins, until they saw Trip and T'Pol glance at one another then look at the floor.

Phlox set down his drink and took the liberty of speaking up, "If I may, Commander?" She nodded, so he took a deep breath and continued. "It seems the Tuckers will unlikely be able to conceive another child naturally for uh… personal reasons.

"Upon learning this, they made applications to be considered as potential adoptive parents on both United Earth and Vulcan. Unfortunately, they were turned down by both."

"United Earth was concerned that I would not be able to properly bond with and raise an Earth child," T'Pol interjected. "They were also concerned about Trip's health status. But they encouraged us to apply in the future once his situation is resolved. Vulcan was actually more open to the idea, but was concerned about Trip health status."

"My health status, my health status!" Trip snapped. "Yeah, it's all about my health status! But no, actually it's about a decision I made; me trying to do something to help my world win a war with the damned Romulans. I went to Krios Prime to get the warp seven technology and I got something I didn't bargain for: a woman who became obsessed with me and a damned parasite infection that I just can't seem to get rid of.

That one act has changed the course of my life. It's taken almost everything from me. It seems I'm climbing _down_ the latter of success. But hey, listen, I've already ruined everybody's good time. I never meant to do that, I didn't even wanna come. I'm happy for all of you really, but, I'm just gonna go."

With that he pushed past everyone and exited the room.

But Malcolm followed him.

"Trip! Trip!" the Brit's voice carried down the corridor from behind him as he tried to make his way out to the parking lot.

Trip stopped and turned around slowly. "I'm sorry, Mal. Look, I'm a wreck. So, please, just let me get outta here so you guys can get on with your celebration."

"Come on, mate. You know I can't let you leave like this." Malcolm put a tentative hand on his upper arm. "You're one of us. I just wish you'd have _said_ something. You know I'd never have let this happen. Never have put you on the spot like this."

"Yeah, I know, Mal."

"But you're here now, so come on back in. You know we don't see you as a failure."

"Malcolm, I just can't do this right now. I need to be alone."

The other man took a breath, and spoke firmly. "No, you don't. You need to be with friends," Malcolm replied. "Look, I'm sorry that those parasites chose you as their communications officer. If there was anything I could do to help, I would – you know I would, whatever it took. But if they hadn't, none of us would be here."

Trip blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ that if you hadn't kept telling us what you were sensing and feeling, that we knew one another, we might never have made the connection. If you hadn't gotten us all together to try and make that final escape, I don't know what might have happened."

"That just got Dr. Yuris killed." The Vulcan's death still weighed heavily on his conscience.

"Yes, it did. In a situation like that, there are almost certainly going to be casualties. But Trip, it also allowed Gannet to escape and to hook up with Venus and Helena. That turned everything around. And obviously, I'm sorry you were infected in the first place, and even more sorry that things haven't worked out for you, but because you went to Krios Prime, you got the warp seven technology from Kaitaama. I can't tell you how significant that was."

"Without it, we'd likely be under Romulan Rule right now," Jon said as he walked up towards them. "I'm sorry too, Trip. That I didn't understand what you were going through when you were first infected with those creatures. I'm sorry you were re-infected and for what you're going through now. But I know one thing: without your superior strength back there, we wouldn't have had an opportunity to escape, twice…"

"Neither of our escape attempts were successful," Trip said bitterly.

"Sure they were!" Travis had also followed. "When I escaped, I went right for that cave we found where you blocked it with that giant rock, and when Gannet escaped, she did the exact same thing. It was a safe haven for us. You made it that way."

"You guys are just tryin' to make me feel better." He scowled. Of course they were, and it wasn't going to work.

"Of course we are," Hoshi said as she joined the others. "That's what friends _do,_ Trip. They try to make each other feel better when they're down. They help each other when they're in trouble. Just like when I was kidnapped, you risked your career, your life, to help rescue me."

"And the way you took a chance on me, risked being captured, and helped me find my baby when Kaitaama stole him from me on Krios Prime," Raijin called out from the balcony.

"And the way you helped get _Columbia_ out of space dock when no one else could," Erika shouted out from beside Raijin. "Although you did jump ship and go running back to _Enterprise_

after three weeks, you lousy bastard!"

Everybody laughed at that.

"The point is," Hoshi said, "you're our friend, Trip. We love you and when you hurt, we hurt with you. We've been through too much together to let you go through this alone. Let us in… please."

Then T'Pol came out and walked up to Trip. "Do you see now why I wanted you to come?" she asked. "Not for them, but for you. We are a clan, and you needed the clan."

Trip sighed deeply and stared at the ground, his hands on his hips. "You are very wise, my darlin'," he said. Then he leaned over and kissed her lips in front of everyone.

They made 'oo'ing sounds as T'Pol turned slightly green around the gills.

"Hey, is this a party or what!" Liz shouted from behind Erika. "You know, we can move it down to the parking lot, that's nothing but a word!"

"Liz!" Travis warned as he rushed back toward the balcony, waving his hands. "Don't be so loud, somebody's gonna call the cops. Get back inside, you're being extra, _again_!"

" _Extra_!" she shouted. "What did I tell you about calling me that! My mama named me Elizabeth…." And she continued her loud tirade as Travis tried to quiet her.

Jon looked at Trip and clasped him on the shoulder. He gestured for him to 'c'mon'. Trip smiled and started to walk back toward the house alongside T'Pol.

Jon then waited for Malcolm to catch up as they observed Liz and Travis yelling at each other.

"What's with them?" Jon asked. "They seem to be doing that a lot lately. I've never known Travis to engage in bickering like that."

"Well she does seem to bring something out of him I didn't know was there. I don't think he did either," Malcolm grinned. "But he seems to like it."

"If you ask me, I think we have our new Trip and T'Pol," Jon said. They looked at one another, and then laughed.

When they were all back inside, Trip felt a lot better,

He looked around the room and decided that his life might not be quite so bad after all. He looked at his friends – all of them. And yes, they _were_ his friends. They had been through so much together and survived multiple life and death situations together. They had survived the Capella Prime II incident and once again lived to tell about it. Now the guys were all restored to health and moving on. How could he not be happy for them?

It also helped that Phlox had pulled him aside and told him that the very small residue of infection still in his brain would likely be resolved with two-three treatments, but since Trip had abruptly left the day of the test and wouldn't return any of his calls, he hadn't been able to tell him. The doctor told him that he could test him again in about a month.

Trip then spotted T'Pol across the room. He admired her beauty, her commitment to him and just who she was as a person. And though they hadn't been able to access their bond since the whole Capella Prime incident began, he knew it would re-surface soon. But, no matter, with it or without it, he knew she loved him and he loved her. And if they never had a child, he could live with that. But somehow, he didn't think the last word had been spoken on that either. He smiled and decided everything really was right with the world.

 _Then_ , it was a party.

 **The End.**

* * *

 _ ** **Author's Note: Thanks to all who took the time to read and review and to all you silent readers out there as well. I hope you enjoyed it and I really appreciate your support! A special thanks to LoyaulteMeLie, my wonderful beta reader. Until next time! Bri****_


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